Israel | VS | Latvia |
| Date/Time: | Mar 26, 2011, 19:05(GMT) |
| Competition: | UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying |
| Live/Repeat: | Live |
| Venue: | Bloomfield Stadium (Tel-Aviv-Yafa (Tel-Aviv)) |
Israel and Latvia look for lift-off
Level on four points after as many Group F games, Israel and Latvia will look to relaunch their bids for a UEFA EURO 2012 place with a victory in their first competitive game of 2011.
Match background
• The teams have met on four previous occasions, with Israel's record in those matches reading W2 D1 L1 (W1 D0 L1 at home).
• The sides first met in a friendly game in Riga on 17 May 1998 which Israel won 5-1. A further friendly in Jerusalem on 24 February 1999 ended in a 2-0 win for the hosts.
• The tide has turned since then, with Latvia holding the upper hand in the countries' most recent meetings in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. On 15 October 2008, they drew 1-1 in Riga, Vladimirs Kolesņičenko cancelling out Yossi Benayoun's opener.
• Latvia then pulled off something of a surprise in the return fixture, Kaspars Gorkšs scoring the only goal to earn them a 1-0 win in Tel Aviv on 5 September 2009. That strike ended Israel's 15-year unbeaten home run in World Cup qualifiers.
