Dutch Threaten Bar-Room Brawl at Last Chance Saloon

The Netherlands face the prospect of a very public humiliation in Braga on Wednesday night as the volatile Dutch take on Latvia -- and their own inner demons -- with a quarter-final place, and more importantly their reputation in the world game, at stake.

With one draw and one loss in their unremarkable Euro 2004 campaign so far, the Dutch take on the solid Latvians while stuck in a precarious position. Both teams share the same single point, just one behind Germany with everything to play for. A win for any of the three teams hoping to follow the Czech Republic through to the knock-out phase would be enough as long as their rivals falter. For the Dutch, such a scenario is unthinkable.

Holland's fate is out of their hands, as they must rely on the Czechs beating Germany in the other Group D match to reach a stage of the tournament that most people expected from such a talented squad of players. However, the usual disquiet has started in the Dutch camp and as it has in previous years, it threatens to derail their campaign.

Exterior forces dictate Dutch destiny

"I'm sure our players will give everything," said Holland coach Willem van Hanegem, covering for under-fire Dick Advocaat at the news conference. "It is annoying to depend on others but we caused this situation so you can't blame anyone else for it."

The coach was at the center of some vicious criticism after making several controversial substitutions in Holland's 3-2 defeat to the Czech Republic, a match the Dutch had led 2-0. So much so that Advocaat declined to attend Monday's pre-match news conference, sending Van Hanegem to take questions in his place.

Even the assistant coach could barely hide the fact that there had been ructions in the camp over the tactical debacle that cost Holland the match on June 19.

Coaching team at odds over tactics

"We had some discussion among the technical staff about the changes," said Van Hanegem. "I thought there were other possibilities, but it still is Advocaat's responsibility. Everyone is blaming the technical staff for this loss but no one talks about the defensive errors that cost us two goals."

"But I think we are over-rated. We have quality players but are simply not a team who will run over every opponent."

Criticism of the coach leaked from the players after the loss to the Czechs. Midfielder Edgar Davids, who could barely hide his annoyance at the fact that his team's fate lay in the hands of others, suggested his coach had to accept some of the blame for Holland's precarious position but also lamented that he and his team mates had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Players speak out after Czech

"We have to assess the whole team and the coach is part of that." he said. "You win together, you lose together and that is what happened in the last match. Everyone is responsible for what happened."

Latvia takes on Holland with a possible, surprising qualification still within reach. "If I'd said 10 days ago that now I'd be talking about qualifying for the quarter-finals it would have seemed like a joke," said coach Aleksandrs Starkovs. The Latvians will not be overawed by the Dutch, he added and that, match by match, his team's confidence is growing.

"We've shown we can play big teams," said Starkovs, whose side could qualify if they beat the Dutch and the Czech Republic do not lose to Germany. "We have a realistic chance to reach the quarter-finals."

Latvia relishing every game

"It's already a victory to still be talking about making it into the last eight before the third group game. We can play attacking football but -- as against Germany -- we can play defensively and still create more chances than our opponents."

"The draw against Germany is without a doubt our most significant international result because it was in an international tournament and because it was against the Germans," Starkovs said. "But our job now is to be ready to give our maximum against the Netherlands."

A victory comes next, warns Latvian stalwart

Latvia defender Mihails Zemlinskis told the team's press conference that Latvia was on a roll with their results getting better and better as the tournament progressed. "We've lost one match, we drew the second, and now it's time for a victory," said Zemlinskis. "We surprised everybody by getting here and now will try to produce something magical."