"Necessary victory," - that's what the Scots said before the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup against the Lithuanians. However, the Lithuanians surprised and silenced the skeptics. The Scots equalized to 1:1 at the last moment, and the Lithuanians received praise for their brave game. The portal "Daily Mail" recalled October 2003, when Darren Fletcher scored the only goal for Scotland in the first match against Lithuania and secured the victory. "This time Lithuania arrived differently. This is a team not afraid to attack and take the initiative. The ruthless Lithuanians were very close to a painful victory for the Scots," the portal wrote. "SKY News" after the match said: finally! "A nerve-racking evening, a late comeback, and certainly not what coach Gordon Strachan and 40,000 fans in the stadium expected," wrote "SKY News." BBC ironically commented on coach G.Strachan's words that the equalizing goal in the 89th minute was a "good end to the match." "And although the Scottish national team created great opportunities for James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths, the equalizing goal matured only in the 89th minute," wrote BBC journalists. Meanwhile, the newspaper "Mail Sport" demands explanations from G.Strachan: "Now coach Strachan has to answer to the fans, as this is equivalent to a very strong blow, and our World Cup dream barely two games in is in a difficult situation." Former Scotland national team defender Willie Miller, assessing the players, gave goalkeeper David Marshall 6 points: "He didn't have much to do, except in the second half, when he defended Arvydas Novikovas' shot. We can't blame him for the missed goal, the shot was too strong." BBC correspondent Thomas English praised the Lithuanians' organization and Fiodor Černych's beautiful goal. "Scotland, ranked 44th in the world, has long been the second-best team in the group. It wasn't that the Lithuanians, ranked only 117th, caused many concerns. They were just better organized, more aggressive, they didn't give peace to the Scots and made them make mistakes. The Scots were too similar. From Robert Snodgrass, Matt Ritchie, D.Fletcher, and Barry Bannan, we got very little or nothing. The Lithuanian goal was pleasant, and the Scots couldn't do anything. Vykintas Slivka and Fiodor Černych played excellently," wrote the BBC correspondent.
lrytas.lt
