© EuroFootball.com
Today at 21:45 Lithuania time, at the Braga Municipal Stadium, in the final D group match in the battle for a spot in the quarter-finals of the European Championship, the teams of the Netherlands and Latvia will meet.
A victory in this match would guarantee a place in the quarter-finals for each team, but only if the Germans fail to beat the current leaders of the group, the Czechs. Otherwise, neither a victory by Latvia nor the Netherlands would be enough.
Netherlands
For today's match, Netherlands coach Dick Advocaat has made two changes: instead of John Heitinga, who received a red card in the match against the Czechs, we will likely see Michael Reiziger on the field, and instead of the injured Wilfred Bouma, Frank de Boer will play.
However, despite these necessary changes, Dick Advocaat is satisfied with the team that played against the Czech Republic and does not plan on making major changes.
Latvia
Latvia's coach, Aleksandrs Starkovs, has also made two changes. Valērijs Ivanovs, who has recovered from injury, will return to the team, playing his 50th match for the national team, and Marian Pahars will play instead of Andrejs Prohorenkovs alongside Maris Verpakovskis.
It's Marian Pahars who is the only Latvian to have faced the main Dutch defender Jaap Stam when he played for Manchester United.
Possible lineups:
Latvia (4-4-2): Kolinko; Isakovs, Zemlinskis, Stepanovs, Blagonadezdins; Bleidelis, Lobanovs, Astafjevs, Rubins; Pahars, Verpakovskis.
Netherlands (4-3-3): Van der Sar; Reiziger, Stam, De Boer, Van Bronckhorst; Seedorf, Cocu, Davids; Van der Meyde, Van Nistelrooij, Robben.
Match referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
