Group F/Latvia v Northern Ireland:At this stage of a qualifying campaign Northern Ireland have recently been reduced to going through the motions. Not this time: the Irish arrived in Riga this week second in Group F, sandwiched between Sweden and Spain, determined not to get squeezed out. The only way they can guarantee that is, as David Healy said yesterday, by beating Latvia this evening and then doing the same to Iceland in Reykjavik next Wednesday.
"Before this double-header against Latvia and Iceland all the talk has been about us having to win both games to have any chance of qualifying," Healy said. "If I'm being honest, I'd say that is probably right and we are not going to shy away from that fact."
It is an indication of the rising ambitions of a squad now managed by Nigel Worthington following Lawrie Sanchez's departure for Fulham that Healy can speak in such a way and be taken seriously. In their last European Championship qualifying group, Healy and co came fifth in a five-team group, four points below Armenia. They did not win a game.
Yet now, here they are in Riga talking of the requirement for victory, not the hope of it. The detail of who will play in defence, for example, is once again interesting more than family members.
Even with captain Aaron Hughes missing today and Iceland, there is competition for places. Manchester United's Johnny Evans has already shown he is at ease in international football - he made his debut in the 3-2 win over Spain in Belfast and marked Fernando Torres out of the game - but Evans may be on the bench as Worthington sticks with the back four that helped overcome Liechtenstein at Windsor Park a couple of weeks ago.
Just as he scored all three against Spain, Healy got both in the win over Liechtenstein and he now has 11 goals in qualification, three more than next best Lukas Podolski of Germany. Healy equalled and then passed a handful of legendary players such as Tom Finney, Kenny Dalglish and Alan Shearer when he got that brace and he sits on 31 international goals, the same number as Robbie Keane. Healy has been capped 57 times to Keane's 73
One of those goals also did for Latvia in Belfast. That was a vital victory as it revealed this developing team can perform on lesser occasions, not just the big nights against Spain or Sweden or England.
Latvia will not be easy today. They reached the last finals in Portugal courtesy of a play-off win against Turkey and held Germany 0-0 in Oporto. They were also one up at half-time against the Czech Republic and a core of that side remains.
With trips to Sweden and Spain to follow, Northern Ireland must not lose in Riga, but a draw might puncture momentum.
As Healy said: "It doesn't matter how we get the win. All that matters is that we board the plane for Iceland on Tuesday morning knowing that we have another three points in the bag. Then we can start talking about Iceland.
