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Today at 19:00 Lithuanian time, the D Group matches will kick off at the Municipal de Aveiro stadium. The first teams to test their strength in this group will be the national teams of Latvia and Czech Republic.
In these matches, the Czechs are considered favorites, bringing a strong squad to the championship and aiming to replicate the result they achieved in the European Championship eight years ago, when they reached the final and, only after extra time, lost to the German team.
Meanwhile, Latvia is perhaps the biggest mystery of these championships, qualifying for the European Championship after demonstrating excellent football in the qualifying matches, defeating teams like Sweden and Turkey.
The coach of the Latvian national team, Aleksandrs Starkovs, will likely use a defensive 4-2-2-2 tactic today. In terms of Latvian defense, the key roles are played by the two center-backs - Igor Stepanovs and Mihails Zemlinskis. In the attacking line, we should see the Latvian duo Maris Verpakovskis and tall Andrejs Prohorenkovs, but there is also a possibility that one of the most famous Latvian players, Marian Pahars, who is still recovering from a serious injury, may appear on the field.
The Czech national team, winning seven out of eight played matches in the qualification tournament and scoring 23 goals while conceding only 5, will likely play with a traditional 4-4-2 formation. The Czech game will revolve around two players - "Juventus" star Pavel Nedved and Dortmund's "Borussia" representative Tomas Rosicky. The attacking pair will be another "Borussia" player Jan Koller and "Liverpool" representative Milan Baros, who two years ago became European champion with the Czech under-21 national team. In defense, Rene Bolf and Tomas Ujfalusi will play in the center.
According to Pavel Nedved, the Czechs must not underestimate their opponents in these matches, as as previously mentioned by Aleksandrs Starkovs, Latvians are not satisfied with just qualifying for the European Championship and will fight for points in every match.
Predicted starting lineups:
Latvia: Kolinko; Zirnis, Stepanovs, Zemlinskis, Blagonadezdins; Bleidelis, Astafjevs; Rubins, Laizans; Verpakovskis, Prohorenkovs.
Czech Republic: Cech; Jankulovski, Ujfalusi, Bolf, Grygera; Nedved, Rosicky, Galasek, Poborsky; Koller, Baros.
Guess the match results in the totalizator!
