In Marijampolė's football arena, the final stage of the 2008 Lithuanian children's (7 on 7) football championship "ARVI" took place. The FA "Žalgirietis" team also participated in the final group. And not only participated, but also won the champions title. Two strongest teams from each of the four Lithuanian regions reached the final stage of the competition. Representatives from the Eastern region: FA "Žalgirietis" and FM "Audra", Western region: Klaipėdos FM-1 and Gargždų "Banga", Northern region: FA "Šiauliai-1" and Panevėžio FA-2, Southern region: Kauno VJFM "Ąžuolas-1" and Kauno FM "Tauras-1". The teams were divided into 2 groups. Upon arriving in Marijampolė, the young Žalgirietis players played their first match against the Panevėžio FA-2 team and defeated them with a score of 3:0 (Klemensas Gustas - 2, Dovas Grudzinskas). The match against Panevėžys was intense and interesting. The Žalgirietis players took the lead at the end of the first half, and scored more goals in the second half. With the score at 1:0, the selfless Žalgirietis defender Julius Plančiūnas "pulled" the ball away from the goal line, preventing the opponents from creating intrigue in the match. In the next match against FA "Šiauliai-1", the young Žalgirietis players won convincingly with a score of 6:0 (K.Gustas - 2, D.Grudzinskas - 2, Daumantas Bazys and Dominykas Gelombickas). In these matches, compared to the first ones, the children played more freely, with a slightly lower competitive tension. Thus, the first day ended triumphantly. On Sunday, we started the match against the well-known FM "Audra". The Žalgirietis players only needed not to lose in order to take first place in the group. The first half was tense, with both "Audra" and FA "Žalgirietis" controlling the ball evenly, and the first half ended in a tie of 0:0. After the break, FA "Žalgirietis" scored the first goal. Rokas Kursevičius intercepted a mistake by the FM "Audra" goalkeeper and sent the ball into the opponents' goal. Two more goals were added at the end of the match by Rapolas Pikelis. By winning 3:0, the nine-year-olds from FA "Žalgirietis" advanced to the championship final! In the final, Žalgirietis met with the young footballers from "Banga". Just minutes into the match, "Banga" started pressing the Žalgirietis team and already in the second minute, FA "Žalgirietis" had to pull the first goal out of their own net. FK "Banga" didn't stop - after a minute, they scored the second goal, and a few minutes later, the third! "Banga" was leading 3:0 in the third minute! Before the final, FA "Žalgirietis" had not conceded a single goal, but in the final, they conceded three in the first minutes. It was a shock to the green and white team. For a few minutes there was chaos on the field, but gradually the young Žalgirietis players took control of the game and scored their first goal against the "samogitians" (D.Grudzinskas). After the break, the young FA "Žalgirietis" team entered the field determined to show character and at the same time say that nothing is over. Soon after, the second goal fell into the Gargždai net 2:3 (Benas Bruzga), and a few minutes later Joris Jagminas accurately headed the ball, equalizing the score - 3:3 !!! When the score became equal, FA "Žalgirietis" began to press the opponents from Žemaitija even more, and soon scored a fourth goal (D.Grudzinskas), the score was already 4:3 in favor of the green and white. FK "Banga" had two good chances to equalize the score, but the brilliant FA "Žalgirietis" goalkeeper Gabrielius Kerys saved the team. This was one of the crucial moments, as FA "Žalgirietis" then added three more goals (K.Gustas 2x, R.Kursevičius) to the "samogitians" net, and the score became 7:3. Coach Ervinas Snitkas was pleased that the children were able to recover, showed strong character, and put in all efforts to achieve a beautiful game and a positive result. The coach also thanked the children's parents, who supported the team very enthusiastically and emotionally throughout the entire championship and this final stage! "We will continue to strive to improve, learn, and move forward," said E.Snitkas. In the FA "Žalgirietis" team, the Lithuanian champions are: Gabrielius Kerys, Julius Plančiūnas, Joris Jagminas, Dovas Grudzinskas, Benas Bruzga, Rokas Kursevičius, Klemensas Gustas, Nojus Žilinskas, Adomas Buikus, Rapolas Pikelis, Daumantas Bazys, Šarūnas Žilys, Deividas Česnauskis, Dominykas Gelombickas. Best players of the final competition: Best goalkeeper - Gabrielius Kerys (FA "Žalgirietis") Top scorer (7 goals) - Vakaris Jurgutis (Gargždų FK "Banga") Best defender - Edvinas Mikutis (Klaipėdos FM-1) Best midfielder - Vėjas Pocius (Šiaulių FA "Šiauliai-1") Best forward - Klemensas Gustas (FA "Žalgirietis")
