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. Linards Kaprāns started the match with the kick off. If Krišs Kerčs had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 3rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Heikki Kokkonen showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Roberts Eldmanis, who was totally free with the ball in the 5th minute. In the 11th minute, Jari Litmanen made a precise shot to the right of Juris Mītava. Latvia's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-1. In the 15th minute, Krišs Kerčs got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Finland's Heikki Kokkonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Linards Kaprāns in the 25th minute of play. Heikki Kokkonen showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Linards Kaprāns in the 32nd minute of the match. Finland's Heikki Kokkonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Roberts Eldmanis in the 36th minute of play. The Latvia fans' excitement grew in the 39th match minute when Latvia's Krišs Kerčs looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 1-2 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. After some careless play in the Latvia defense, Jari Litmanen kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Juris Mītava. The Latvia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Juris Mītava should have stopped the shot. Heikki Kokkonen came out of the goal in the 46th minute to try and stop a shot by Latvia's Krišs Kerčs. But to his dismay, Krišs Kerčs quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 2-3. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 2-3.

Finland made a substitution. Osmo Ripatti replaced Marko Hyökyvaara. Jari Litmanen took the ball and in the 58 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Juris Mītava. Juris Mītava dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 3-3. Heikki Kokkonen showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Linards Kaprāns in the 63rd minute of the match. Latvia's Krišs Kerčs got a good chance for a goal in the 64th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Heikki Kokkonen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Linards Kaprāns in the 67th minute of play. 69 minutes into the match, Finland's Jari Litmanen sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Juris Mītava narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Juris Mītava took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Jari Litmanen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Jari Litmanen's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Juris Mītava read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 76th minute of play. Juris Mītava didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Jari Litmanen went, in the 80th minute, to the upper right corner, 5-3 was the resulting score. Latvia's Niks Stumps was substituted for Linards Kaprāns. The audience thought a goal was coming when Roberts Eldmanis got free with Heikki Kokkonen in the 84th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 86 minutes into the match, Jari Litmanen notched a goal, 6-3, to the right of Latvia's Juris Mītava. Juris Mītava was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. An unexpectedly hard shot by Jari Litmanen in the 95th minute of play forced Latvia's goalkeeper Juris Mītava to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the referee blew the final whistle, Finland could leave the field as winners, despite Latvia having more of the ball for most of the match.