National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Visvaldis Kaziors started the match with the kick off. The audience was convinced that Dzintars Dzintars's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but João Magalhães was relentless in the 11th minute of the game. U21 Portugal's João Magalhães played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Visvaldis Kaziors in the 15th minute of play. In the 17th of the match, Visvaldis Kaziors tried to place the ball in the upper right corner, but João Magalhães got in the way and made a wonderful save. Gil Nogueira hit a great freekick 19 minutes into the match. João Magalhães was out of position in the 22 minute of play, and Visvaldis Kaziors capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Visvaldis Kaziors really showed his touch with that goal: 1-0. After 28 minutes, Sandro Valente mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Portugal and the U21 Latvia players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of U21 Latvia booed when U21 Portugal was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 29 match minutes in a wonderful position. Sandro Valente didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 29 played minutes Anšlavs Kuzītis shot from long distance. At first the shot seemed to be simple for U21 Portugal's João Magalhães to catch but Anšlavs Kuzītis was lucky. It became 2-0 after the goalkeeper had been careless and dropped the ball into goal. U21 Latvia's Dzintars Dzintars got a good chance for a goal in the 32nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Renārs Deglis kicked well hit freekick during the 37th minute of the match. 38 minutes into the match, U21 Latvia's goal looked a bit too open when Van Nistelrooy came free, but Miķelis Somass reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The referee felt a red card was in order, 41 minutes into the game, when Gatis Susurs put in a rough tackle. The referee gave U21 Portugal a penalty, 43 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Cristiano Magalhães, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of U21 Latvia's Miķelis Somass. 2-1.

The wind increased when Van Nistelrooy made the kick off in the second half. After a rather tough play, U21 Latvia's Muntis Stotaks got a free kick in the 55th minute. If Viriato Andrade had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 57th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Van Nistelrooy received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 59th minute. Miķelis Somass tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. João Magalhães showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Visvaldis Kaziors, who was totally free with the ball in the 61st minute. After 65 minutes U21 Portugal's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Anšlavs Kuzītis who took care of the corner kick. After taking down the ball on U21 Latvia's corner Anšlavs Kuzītis fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and João Magalhães quite easily take care of the ball. A collision led to U21 Portugal getting a freekick after 66 minutes play. Gil Nogueira hit a great ball. In the 68th match minute, U21 Portugal was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gil Nogueira to maneuver through the defense. 73 minutes into the match, U21 Portugal's goal looked a bit too open when Visvaldis Kaziors came free, but João Magalhães reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. João Magalhães stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Visvaldis Kaziors's shot from short distance in the 74th minute. After 76 minutes of play, U21 Latvia's Visvaldis Kaziors made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. João Magalhães was left in no man's land by his defense there! Miķelis Somass showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gil Nogueira in the 83rd minute of the match. With a little luck, U21 Latvia's Miķelis Somass got control of the ball when Van Nistelrooy tried to sneak it across the goal line. 90 minutes into the game, Renārs Deglis was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Latvia's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Portugal the free kick. Nuno Delgado hit a great freekick 92 minutes into the match. João Magalhães showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Visvaldis Kaziors in the 95th minute of the match. U21 Latvia's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.