How I Became
Latvian Orthodox
From the comfort of my couch, I became a diehard fan of a European soccer minnow. Isn’t 2014 amazing?
What I did on Tuesday afternoon, I couldn’t possibly have done just a few years ago: I watched Latvia’s national soccer team face Kazakhstan in a Euro 2016 qualifying match, from my own house.
This, you could argue, is the logical extreme of a TV environment that values live sporting events above all else. These DVR-proof events have spurred massive increases in revenue from both local and national sports networks, leading to the kind of money that has taken baseball salaries to another level (and made the NBA’s annihilation of the players in the last CBA negotiations even more profitable for the owners).
It’s also led to the launch of a number of new national networks—your NBC Sports Network, your Fox Sports 1, your Fox Sports 2. And these networks need programming—the more live sports, the better.
Still, who exactly is the audience for a Euro 2016 qualifier between Latvia and Kazakhstan, at noon on a Tuesday? I’ll tell you who: me. And not just because of how amused I was to see Mike Francesa aware of getting pre-empted for Latvian soccer.
I’m a sportswriter, one who works from home, one who had a fantasy for most of my life that the games I’d read about in distant lands in the pages of World Soccer magazine would be viewable, somehow. It’s incredible to consider exactly how far removed from the current experience the soccer-viewing landscape was in this country five or 10, let alone 20 years ago.
European qualifiers were things mentioned in the very back of my issue of World Soccer, in the non-glossy pages, in tiny type. I’d always wondered what those so-called minnows looked like, whether a day would come when not-so-mighty San Marino might give one of the likely tournament participants a really good tussle.
Even in the Internet age, our ability to watch soccer here in the United States has progressed fitfully. I still remember watching the United States team qualify for the 2010 World Cup on a shaky Internet stream. But now, in this live sports smorgasbord that is 2014, I can see it all.
There was only one thing left to decide: which minnow would I root for?
I scanned the bottom of the FIFA rankings, considered San Marino, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Andorra. But I wanted a team with at least a theoretical chance of advancing to the 24-team tournament itself, and besides, San Marino (the ultimate minnow) was only available on Fox Sports Go.
Latvia felt right. I knew four things about Latvia:
- It was one of the Baltic states freed from the USSR, along with Estonia and Lithuania.
- George Costanza tried to convert to “Latvian Orthodox” for a woman.
- My friend since the age of eight, Alex Peretsman, emigrated from Latvia with his family.
- Riga, the capital, is supposed to be a lovely, cultural-rich town.
Latvia was ranked at exactly No. 100 in the most recent FIFA rankings. Against Kazakhstan, ranked 131st, they were actually slight favorites.
So, if Latvia was to be my team, I needed to study up. And at first, I wondered just how much one could read about Latvian soccer without knowing, well, Latvian.
The match against Kazakhstan didn’t exactly draw overwhelming coverage for match previews among the international soccer press. I did, however, find “One Nil Up”, which bills itself, accurately you’d presume, as “The Baltics Number One Digital Football Magazine.”
From there, I learned about Valeris Sabala, the young striker who “carries the weight of Latvian dreams and expectation on his shoulders.” I read about Marians Pahars, former recent star player and now the manager of the Latvian national team — essentially the equivalent of Landon Donovan taking over Jurgen Klinsmann’s job. I read about Artjoms Rudnevs, Latvian striker and Bundesliga participant with Hamburger SV, and Kaspars Gorkss, the veteran center back recently of Reading in England’s second division.
I felt pretty well-schooled in the basics of the who, but then came the breakthrough. @LV_FOOTBALL_ENG — Latvian football’s English language twitter feed, 230 followers — told me if anyone would have a match preview, it would be One Nil Up. It didn’t materialize on the site, but the Twitter account itself reached out.
And just when I thought I’d done all the homework I could to be ready for the match, Fox Sports 1 came through with an actual pregame show. For Latvia-Kazakhstan. IT WAS AMAZING.
I got to hear Gorkss, he of the 59 Latvian caps, talk about the dream of 2004. For those less steeped in Latvian football history than I am now, 2004 was the only year Latvia qualified for the European championships. Though it didn’t go well in the group stage, Latvia did manage a 0–0 draw with Germany. It’s been fruitless attempts to qualify for Euros or World Cups ever since. 2004 Latvia is Joe Namath’s Super Bowl New York Jets.
By kickoff, I was very ready for some Latvian soccer.
The first half, then, was terribly anticlimactic. Kazakhstan dominated possession, and had most of the scoring opportunities. Seven of the first eight corners were also taken by the Kazakhs, but the half ended scoreless, and three points still looked possible.
Latvia is in a group with Kazakhstan, Turkey, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Iceland. The top two will qualify for the tournament proper. Most people believe that will be Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The third place teams also get to keep playing—the best third-place team among the nine groups also automatically qualifies. The other eight play one another in a two-legged playoff, with the four winners also advancing to Euro 2016.
As Pahars put it earlier this month: “I will be very concise. The first game against Kazakhstan represents a new cycle. Everybody knows our group is a tough one. Therefore, everybody knows that the aim of the Federation is to finish third in the group. Whether this is achievable or not is up to you. In my opinion, this is something we can achieve, because we now have the kinds of players that can take us there.”
My new heroes, it seemed, could see the opportunity as well. Rudnevs manuevered through the box and delivered a shot stopped by the goalkeeper. Sabala streaked down the right sideline, causing trouble as the very last line of the Goal.com article promised he would. In the 68th minute, Vladimirs Gabovs, from a pretty Rudnevs feed, nearly put away the first goal of the day. In the 70th, Andres Kovalovs, from well outside the 18, launched a shot that hit the crossbar.
But Latvia would get no closer. The two likely group also-rans played to a 0–0 draw. Iceland beat up on Turkey, while the Czech Republic surprisingly bested the Netherlands. Iceland, as of now, is in the poll position for third.
But this wasn’t some kind of one-off opportunity to root on the Latvian national team. Next month, those Icelanders have to come into Riga, playing in Skontos Stadium. The 10,000-seat venue is the biggest soccer stadium in Latvia, and is the home of the Manchester United of Latvia, Skonto Riga.
Then comes what should be a winnable match against Turkey on October 13. And then, on November 16, a big one: traveling to Amsterdam. Stadium capacity? 53,052. Hosted the Europa League final in 2013.
So, anyway, I think I’m in for, if not the long haul, at least the near future. I follow One Nil Up and Latvian Football (English) on Twitter. I know I’ll have the chance to watch Latvia try and qualify for Euro 2016. And I don’t plan on stopping doing so.
The main reason is simple: It’s because I can.
