Latvia fans gave their Euro 2004 team a standing ovation after they went down bravely to Czech Republic in their major tournament debut on Tuesday.

They numbered no more than a few hundred, wearing dark red shirts, but the supporters from the small Baltic nation roared their approval as if they were thousands strong at the end of the match in the Municipal stadium of Aveiro.

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Some fans wept at what might have been as Latvia, 500-1 to win the title, led for 27 minutes after striker Maris Verpakovskis opened the scoring.

Occupying no more than two sections of the stands, the fans chanted and cheered before Milan Baros equalised in the 73rd minute and substitute Marek Heinz snuffed out Latvian dreams five minutes from the end.

"Of course today's performance gives us more confidence for the following games," coach Aleksandrs Starkovs.

Latvia will take on three times champions Germany and the Netherlands in their next two matches.

It took some fans three days to get here by coach while others flew from the United States for their team's big day.

Latvia, a country of just 2.3 million people, has qualified for a major tournament for the first time at Euro 2004 and fans from all over the globe gathered to witness their debut.

Middle-class fans, many of whom saw all of Latvia's qualifying games, home and away, got together to fly or drive to Portugal but the majority came by coach.

AMAZED FANS

The odd one or two have never seen their team play live, even on television, like father and son Lev and Mark Rabinovich who have lived in the United States for the past 17 years.

"Football was never big in Latvia under the Soviet Union. Lithuania were better and the Ukraine," Lev said. Latvia broke away from Soviet rule in 1991.

"But this team beat some good footballing countries like Poland, Hungary and Sweden. We were amazed.

"We began to really take note when Latvia played Turkey in the playoffs and won 1-0 in Riga. We followed the second leg with the running commentary on the Internet.

"When Latvia pulled two goals back (to lead 3-2 on aggregate in Istanbul) we spent the last 15 minutes on the phone to relatives in Riga who were watching on TV."

Girts Kebers said about 1,000 fans had flocked to Riga airport to greet the team on their return from upsetting Turkey in November to reach the 16-team finals.

He said soccer came a poor third back home to the national game, ice hockey, and basketball, probably Latvia's biggest participation sport.

His face lit up at the mention of ice hockey: "Yes, we follow the ice hockey team. In Latvia, the football crowds are small and Skonto Riga's the smallest."

Skonto have dominated soccer in modern Latvia since 1992 and most of the national squad in Portugal began their careers there or have had spells at the club.

"Most people don't want one team to win everything so they go to see other teams play, hoping they will win," Kebers said.