K. Kulbytė evaluated the WU16 national team tournament in Moldova

2024-05-21 17:30 © lff.lt

On Tuesday, the Lithuanian U16 girls' national team completed their performance at the UEFA Development tournament in Moldova.

The Lithuanian girls played three matches there - they lost 0:3 to Romania in the first game, then defeated the girls from the Faroe Islands 3:1, and finally, after a penalty shootout, they overcame the host team. The result of all this - second place in the tournament of four teams.

After the tournament, the head coach of the team, Kotryna Kulbytė, emphasized that she was very pleased with the team's performance.

"Second place. I am proud of the team's determination and belief in what they do - it shows our ability to win matches in various scenarios, playing in a minority or after a penalty shootout," explained the team's coach.

In the first match against Romania, the game was evenly balanced; the Lithuanians had their chances, but failed to capitalize on them, while the opponents did not waste their mistakes, converting their chances into goals and winning the match 3:0.

"Indeed, the result does not reflect the game on the field. We created our own chances, in the first half alone we had three one-on-one opportunities with the opponents' goalkeeper, but failed to score - one shot was saved by the goalkeeper, another potential goal was disallowed due to a questionable offside," shared the strategist with her thoughts.

In the second match against the Faroe Islands team, the Lithuanians were forced to play with a numerical disadvantage from the end of the first half due to a red card, but they still managed to prove their superiority and defeat their opponents.

"The Faroe Islands team is familiar to us from the Baltic States Cup (WU15/WU17 age groups), so we knew what to expect. We played in the first position from the very first minutes, but we only managed to break through the opponent's defense in the middle of the half," said K. Kulbytė about the second match.

Meanwhile, the last game against Moldova was dramatic - the first half ended goalless at 0:0, after the break both teams scored twice, and according to the tournament regulations, the match ended with a penalty shootout.

The Lithuanian girls were more successful in the penalty shootout, scoring more accurately and securing a victory, guaranteeing themselves second place in the tournament.

"I think the dynamics of the game in both the first and second half were similar, but after making some adjustments during the break, we managed to score two early goals in the second half.

We dominated the field throughout the match, but the aggressive and direct style of play by the opponents, focused on long passes, allowed them to create opportunities and equalize the score. We are learning to play in the first position, so it is natural to make mistakes. We need to learn to maintain focus and intensity even when leading by two goals and secure a victory," she concluded.

One of the most impressive Lithuanian goals in the tournament was a powerful penalty kick from Austėjos Jokubaitytė from a long distance, which went straight into the goal.

"We have certain agreements within the team on what decisions to make from which distances when it comes to penalty kicks, but the decision is always in the hands of the players. Austėja felt confident in herself, and as we can see, the decision paid off, so all the applause goes to her.

One of the goals of this tournament was to raise the players' alertness when attacking in set pieces, recognize situations, and look for solutions on how to exploit them, which was particularly noticeable in the second and third matches," the coach explained about the principles of the game.

Did the national team prepare for penalty shootouts before the tournament?

"Of course, at the beginning of the tournament we discussed that if the match ends in a draw, there will be a penalty shootout, so we included it in the training process during the camp before the tournament. However, our goal was to win in regular time, so there was no specific preparation for penalties before these matches," the strategist revealed.

What lies ahead for the national team?

"We took another step forward not only as a team but also as individual players, and that is the most important thing. The goal is one - to prepare as best as possible for the European Championship qualifiers in the fall," concluded the coach.