Czech coach Karel Brueckner said his team did not panic when they went 1-0 down to 500-1 outsiders Latvia at Euro 2004 before winning 2-1 on Tuesday.

"We started well but the second part of the first half wasn't what we wanted. We were much more aggressive in the second half," he said. Latvia scored in first half injury time.

"We knew there was still a second half to play so there was no panic. There was time," he said.

Karel Poborsky, who set up the Czech equaliser for Milan Baros, said: "We didn't think we were going to lose, but still Baros's goal was a big moment.

"We got the three points we needed, and we can say we got the start we wanted even if there were some tense moments."

Substitute Marek Heinz, who scored the Czech winner in the 85th minute, said Latvia had been strong.

"There was a bit of a scramble and the ball came back to me. I thought about right-footing it but I decided it would be stronger with my left foot.

"They were really strong. We were prepared for it, and I think they were too.

"We knew they would try to score on quick breaks, so we had to be careful. The goal they scored just before going into halftime hurt.

"But we still didn't feel like we couldn't win."

Goalkeeper Petr Cech said: "Sure we spoke about the mistakes we made that led to the goal just before halftime, but we also said that we had a lot of time, and that we were playing well overall.