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Today, on Thursday, the Lithuanian national team gathered for a training camp to prepare for the Baltic Cup match against the Latvian national team. A few days before the match, it became clear that three previously invited players would not be in the team, and it was only supplemented by Nerijus Barasa.
Interviewed on the official website of the Lithuanian Football Federation, A. Liubinskas informed about the players who would not be able to help the team: "After a conversation with the coach of "Ekranas," we decided not to invite P. Lukšys due to his poor physical form. Defender A. Preikšaitis ("Vėtra") is currently injured, and T. Kančelskis will also not be in these matches."
"We assembled this team while watching the Lithuanian A League championship. Only Nerijus Barasa was able to come from foreign players. It is not yet clear, but it is possible that Saulius Mikoliūnas will join the team on Friday. Since the date of these matches is not official, more foreign players could not come," said the coach on Wednesday.
However, it was revealed today that S. Mikoliūnas, a defender from "Hearts" club in Edinburgh, who will play the last match of the season in Scotland on Sunday, will not come to Lithuania. Therefore, 19 players already participated in the team's training, and the only foreign player, N. Barasa, joined the team in the evening.
Speaking about the upcoming match against Latvia, A. Liubinskas admitted that the match will not be of high level, but for some players, it is an opportunity to show their abilities and get into the main squad of the national team for the World Cup qualifying matches against the Spanish team.
"We are preparing for the Baltic Cup matches having three training sessions. I would call these matches Lithuania-Latvia as games at the level of championships, since both the Lithuanian and Latvian national teams include players who are playing locally. However, the finals of the Baltic Cup are a good opportunity to test other players. Those who perform well have the opportunity to get into the team for matches against the Spanish team. Especially since on Saturday we will see the "veterans" of the national team on the field, who have already played in the main national team and have enough playing experience," said A. Liubinskas, promising that they will try to bring the Baltic Cup back to Lithuania.
Reminder - the Lithuanian and Latvian national teams will clash at the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium this Saturday at 16:30, while the youth teams will start their match at Vilnius "Vėtra" Stadium the same day at 12:00.
