A reality check in store for Latvians.

Football romantics will be looking to Latvia to spring a king-sized shock against Germany in Oporto tomorrow, and at 13-2 the Baltic battlers may see some backers.

Aleksandrs Starkovs' men were halfway to an upset against the Czech Republic on Tuesday, going in at half-time a goal up, but were undone in the final 20 minutes.

There was nothing fancy about the Latvian performance, as they defended deep and squeezed the Czechs so hard at the back that they could not find a way through.

However, bookmakers can't see the Germans failing to break those lines, offering just 2-5 about a win for Rudi Voller's team, and even a wager on Germany to be ahead at half-time and full-time is odds-on at a narrow 5-6.

The Czechs may have contributed to their own difficulties in that laboured victory, as they tried and tried to find a way through the compact Latvian defence with carefully slotted passes and clever runs. It was all eye-of-the-needle stuff which the Latvians were able to hold off, but Germany are a more direct team, as they showed against Holland.

Nonetheless, if the underdogs can make themselves tough to break down, the 10-3 about a draw at half-time with the Germans triumphing in the end could be of interest.

Holland looked distinctly second-best against the Germans, and it is no surprise that the 2-1 available pre-tournament about the Czechs to beat the Dutch in their Group D clash has narrowed to 7-4. The men in orange have it all to do against the team who have usurped them as outright group favourites ( they have beaten the Czechs just once in six meetings.

Holland, at 11-8, have drifted slightly since the performance against Germany while the draw is 2-1, about as short as you will see for a competitive international match.

Despite failing to score until the 73rd minute against Latvia, the Czechs carved out plenty of chances, the best falling to Liverpool's Milan Baros, who finally hit the equaliser.

Baros is 13-2 to open the scoring in this encounter, third favourite behind the Dutch duo of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Pierre van Hooijdonk.