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The Lithuanian national football team today finishes preparation for a new qualifying cycle and on Friday will face the Slovakian footballers in the first qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
"On paper, the opponents are the favorites, but we have to prove otherwise and win at home in the 90 minutes," said national team coach Csaba Laszlo at a press conference.
It is important to believe in ourselves
According to the head coach of the Lithuanian national team, the Slovakian national team, along with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece, are the favorites of the qualifying group, but they will have to prove it.
"This is only on paper, it can be different on the field. In the 90 minutes, we can show that we can win. We are determined positively. It is important to believe in ourselves and show team spirit," said Cs. Laszlo. - In each home match, we must aim to win. The last official national team match in Vilnius was held many years ago, so we hope that the fans will miss their national team and come to the stadium."
One of the most experienced players of the national team, defender Deividas Česnauskis, echoed the coach. "As the coach mentioned, we will play for 90 minutes and we can win. I definitely believe it is possible," said the footballer. "We know that we have problems with scoring goals, but we worked on that during training. It is not easy to score against such strong teams, but we will try to prove tomorrow that it is possible."
Opponents are dangerous from set pieces
According to the coach, he has managed to gather a lot of information about the Slovakian national team, so our players will be well prepared for the match.
"Away, the Slovaks are a particularly dangerous team - as they demonstrated this year with victories away against Turkey, Denmark. The Slovakian national team has players who are champions with their clubs. This is a team that can be dangerous for any opponent. They will want to pressure us and prove their superiority, but we are prepared for that," Cs. Laszlo said.
According to D. Česnauskis, discussing the Slovakian team, the coach highlighted several aspects: "The Slovakian national team is good at counter-attacks and set pieces. They have quite a few tall players who can play well with their heads. I think the opponents will feel like favorites and will try to dominate on the field. We will try to defend and score a goal ourselves."
Due to injury, not only Marius Stankevičius, who has long been out of the national team, but also Mindaugas Panka, who is recovering from back pain, could not travel for the start of the qualifying cycle. Cs. Laszlo admitted that he is an important player, but assured that he can be replaced by other footballers.
"Mindaugas was an important team member, with experience at the international level. However, in this position, we also have Deividas Šemberas, Gediminas Vičius. The team is also supplemented by the young Karolis Chvedukas. He could not train yesterday due to an injury, but we hope he will recover before the match," said the national team strategist.
Lithuania and Slovakia national teams will meet on Friday in Vilnius, at the Lithuanian Football Federation stadium. The match starts at 9:15 PM. Tickets for the match are available at BILIETAI.LT.
