Turkey 2 Latvia (agg 2-3): Latvia scored two late goals in their European Championship play-off second leg last night to seal a place at next year's finals in Portugal.
The Latvians, who shocked the World Cup semi-finalists with a 1-0 victory in Riga on Saturday, clinched their first appearance in the finals of a major international tournament when Maris Verpakovskis equalised in the 77th minute.
"We've created a sensation in Europe. Turkey were favourites and I'm very happy that we won," said Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs, who singled out Verpakovskis for special praise.
Turkey, who dominated the match, took the lead in the 21st minute with an exquisite long-range effort from striker Ilhan Mansiz and added a second through Hakan Sukur after the break.
But two minutes later Jurijs Laizans latched on to a free-kick to get Latvia back into the tie after 66 minutes.
One Latvian player celebrated the goal by grabbing a corner flag and making the motion of gunning down his team-mates.
The celebrations prompted the crowd to rain down plastic bottles and coins on to the pitch in an incident that is sure to be investigated by European soccer's ruling body UEFA.
Verpakovskis sealed the aggregate 3-2 victory 11 minutes later, running into the penalty area and beating Turkey goalkeeper Omer Catkic with a right-footed lob under pressure.
The fiercely partisan Turkish crowd booed their players off the pitch while applauding Latvia. They also chanted for the resignation of coach Senol Gunes.
Latvia had few chances in a match dominated by the playmaking skills of Nihat Kahveci on the right and Tumer Metin on the left, the latter setting up Turkey's first goal with a pinpoint cross.
However, Turkey created few scoring chances as the Latvians defended in force and striker Hakan Sukur looked out of sorts, failing to control a series of passes from midfield.
"Our tactics were successful. We played counter-attacking football," Starkovs said.
"The Turkish crowd for their part were great. They applauded us . . . That doesn't happen everywhere."
A jubilant Starkovs said it was too early to discuss his team's chances in next year's finals.
TURKEY: Catkic, Uzulmez, Korkmaz, Baris, Davala (Sas 81), Emre, Metin (Karadeniz 60), Tugay (Sanli 80), Nihat, Mansiz, Sukur. Subs Not Used: Ozgultekin, Penbe, Buruk, Toraman. Booked: Davala. Goals: Mansiz 20, Sukur 64.
LATVIA: Kolinko, Stepanovs, Zemlinskis, Zirnis, Aleksandrs Isakovs, Astafjevs, Laizans, Bleidelis, Verpakovskis (Pahars 90), Rubins, Rimkus (Stolcers 79). Subs Not Used: Piedels, Korablovs, Miholaps, Pucinskis, Smirnovs. Booked: Bleidelis, Rimkus. Goals: Laizans 66, Verpakovskis 77.
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden).
