Wales longest winless run since 2000-01 stretched out to nine games at the weekend, yet there was a sense of elation and hope that taking a point home from Croatia for the first time may set them up for a third consecutive European Championship appearance. In what on paper should have been their most difficult match of Group D, it was a successful start in a new post-Gareth Bale chapter for Wales following their first World Cup finals appearance in 64 years.
As they say, a point is a point, but the manner in which the Welsh were bossed around before half-time, conceding nine shots to one, was a continuation of the poor starts that continue to plague them. Rob Page’s side are yet to score a single first half goal during his six-game tenure (D2, L4), the impact of which stands out even further when one considers Wales’ last four wins all included half-time leads.
Their first meeting with Latvia in 19 years will see the Baltic nation become the last Group F side to begin their campaign, and as by far the lowest ranked country (133) in their group, they have an enormous task ahead of them to make their second Euros appearance (after 2004). They gave rank #48 Republic of Ireland a scare in a lead-up friendly last week, scoring twice prior to half-time before succumbing to a 3-2 loss.
Manager Dainis Kazakevičs has kept his ambitions realistic, setting his players the aim of finishing above fellow minnows Armenia in the group whilst taking any points from the other three “nominally stronger opponents” along the way. Given they picked up three draws as long outsiders alongside two wins over Gibraltar in an ultimately unsuccessful 2022 World Cup qualification attempt, a draw or two along the way may just be within their reach.
Players to watch: Wales Nathan Broadhead was “overwhelmed and emotional” as his maiden international goal followed four goalscoring appearances for Ipswich across February and March. He was unsuccessful against Ireland, but Vladislavs Gutkovskis has scored in five wins for Latvia since the start of 2021.
Hot stat: Two-thirds of matches involving either nation since the beginning of 2022 saw both teams score on the day.
