With a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands, Latvia has failed to advance to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2004 football (soccer) championship. But at least few commentators are discounting Latvia’s first-time appearance in the competition.

Latvia lost the pivotal June 23 game in Braga, Portugal, as fans outfitted in the national colors and Jāņi crowns cheered on their team. If Latvia had won, it would have advanced to the quarterfinals. But as it turned out, instead the Netherlands gets to move on past the Germans, who lost their critical June 23 game against the group leader, the Czech Republic, 1-2.

The Dutch kept the Latvians busy, controlling the ball for 69 percent of the game and getting off 28 shots on the goal, compared to just six by the Latvians, according to game statistics posted on the official Euro 2004 Web site.

Their first goal against the Latvians came 27 minutes into the first half, when forward Ruud Van Nistelrooij’s penalty shot faked out Latvian goalkeeper Aleksandrs Koļinko. Van Nistelrooij scored again 35 minutes into the game.

Forward Roy Maakay got the third goal for the Netherlands six minutes from the end of the second half.

The Latvian team, which had been described as an underdog, goes home with a last-place finish in group play. But it does so with many commentators noting the team’s surprising spunk, especially in its scoreless tie with Germany.

In all, the Czech Republic earned nine points in Group D play with three victories. Each victory counts for three points, while each draw earns one point. The Netherlands, with one win, one draw and one loss, earned four points. Germany, with two draws and one loss, had two points. Latvia had just one point, earned in the draw with Germany.

Three men from Latvia died June 19 when their car was involved in an apparent one-vehicle accident, smashing into a bridge in County Donegal in Ireland, near the border with Northern Ireland, according to Irish media reports.

A fourth man in the car was injured and taken to Letterkenny General Hospital in Letterkenny, Radio Telefís Éireann reported.

According to Irish media, the car was discovered at about 7:45 a.m. by a passer-by.

The three, whose names have not been released, reportedly worked at a factory in Buncrana, Ireland. They were all in their twenties.

When is nothing worth something? When you’re the Latvian football (soccer) team and you hold the German national team to a 0-0 tie in the Euro 2004 championship in Portugal.

Latvia earned its first point in the standings June 19 when it surprised Germany by keeping it scoreless in a game that many figured Germany would easily win. In Euro 2004 group play, a win is worth three points, while a draw is worth one. Both Latvia and Germany walked away from their match with one point.

Even though Germany outshot Latvia 22-5 and had control of the ball for 65 percent of the game, the Latvian defense didn’t give in. On the offensive, Latvian forward Māris Verpakovskis had his team’s best shot at the goal near the end of the first half, but German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn stopped it, according to the Euro 2004 official Web site.

Latvia’s ambassador to Germany, Mārtiņš Virsis, before the game offered honorary citizenship to the German goalkeeper Kahn, according to the German tabloid Bild. All he had to do was let the ball get past him. Kahn, it turns out, has family ties to Latvia: his paternal grandmother was Latvian and his father was born in Latvia.

In Group D, the Czech Republic already is guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals. Latvia next faces the Netherlands in a June 23 match in Braga Municipal Stadium in Braga, Portugal. Germany, meanwhile, faces the Czech Republic in Lisbon.

A victory over the Netherlands would send Latvia to the quarterfinals—unless the second-place Germans defeat the Czechs.