Latvia 1 Turkey 0: Latvia stunned Turkey in the first leg of their play-off on Saturday to edge closer to their first major championship.

Turkey, surprise World Cup semi-finalists last year, were outplayed for long stretches and now face a tough task in Wednesday's second leg in Istanbul.

That task will be made even harder as they will be without defender Emre Asik, who was sent off after 73 minutes for elbowing Latvian striker Vits Rimkus, and goalkeeper Rustu Recber and defender Fatih Akyel, who picked up yellow cards.

"This is an historic win for the Latvian team," a beaming coach Aleksandr Starkovs said.

Latvia attacked from the off and Maris Verpakovskis forced a scrambling save from Recber after seven minutes. But the lively Verpakovskis was not to be denied and he scored the decisive goal after 29 minutes, turning past Asik and calmly chipping the ball over Recber.

Turkey finally began to apply some pressure in the final 15 minutes and came close to snatching an equaliser when Emre Belozoglu's powerful diving header hit the post four minutes from time.

Sour Turkish coach Senol Gunes said he still expected his team to reach next year's finals.

"During practice, everything seemed okay, but the weather today clearly affected the way we played, we're not used to this kind of weather," he said of the near-freezing conditions in Riga.

LATVIA: Kolinko, Stepanovs, Astafjevs, Lobanovs, Laizans, Korablovs, Aleksandrs Isakovs, Bleidelis, Verpakovskis (Kolesnicenko 89), Rubins (Pucinskis 82), Rimkus (Stolcers 86). Subs Not Used: Piedels, Dobrecovs, Miholaps, Smirnovs. Booked: Verpakovskis, Lobanovs. Goal: Verpakovskis 29.

TURKEY: Rustu, Asik, Korkmaz, Akyel, Penbe, Emre, Buruk (Karadeniz 84), Tugay (Metin 87), Mansiz, Nihat (Baris 77), Uzulmez. Subs Not Used: Catkic, Davala, Sanli, Sas. Sent Off: Asik (73). Booked: Emre, Buruk, Rustu, Asik, Akyel.

Referee: Gilles Vessiere (France).