Latvia definitely need to recover. A 3-0 defeat against Croatia on match-day one of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign was surely a bitter way to end their five-match unbeaten record on home soil. Latvia will play away to Malta on Tuesday and they’ll try to get the better of their opponents who went down 3-1 away to Malta last week.
Ahead of the Malta vs Latvia Euro 2012 qualifying match, Coach Aleksandrs Starkovs share a few analysis with the media. He explained:
“Malta don’t have players of such high quality as Croatia. I’m sure that the hosts will fight hard during the 90 minutes. It won’t be easy for us. However, after a heavy defeat at home, it’s our duty to play for the fans and give them something to cheer about.”
Meanwhile, Malta Coach John Buttigieg also regards Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifying match as a must-win fixture. As he compared his side’s game against Israel with the upcoming one against Latvia, the manager stated:
“We all knew that it would be very hard to play against Israel. But although we went under early pressure, I think that my team reacted well. We even drew level with a goal from Pace at a point. Of course, we conceded two goals which we could have avoided.
"Well, it was impossible for us to recover from there. Now, our immediate objective is the match against Latvia. It’s another difficult fixture, but winning isn’t impossible.”
