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Yesterday was the last day of the "Nike Premier Cup" football tournament for fifteen-year-olds taking place in Croatia. The teams were dividing the places. Šiauliai FC "Napoli", representing Lithuania and the Baltic countries, played for 17-20 places against teams that also finished last in their groups. In Group C, the "Napoli" boys lost all the games and ended up in fifth place. Yesterday, the main striker Justinas Krištopaitis, who was injured in the previous match, could not help the team. In the first match of the day, Šiauliai played against Finland's "HJK". During the first attack, the Lithuanians won a corner kick, after which they scored the first goal. The Finns could soon equalize, but a beautiful attack ended with an inaccurate shot. The game continued evenly, with both teams attacking. After a quick counterattack, the opponents of our team managed to equalize the score. Towards the end of the half, FC Napoli player Darius Vaitkevičius got injured, hitting his head during the duel. Darius was taken straight from the field to the hospital, where after a good hour of checking his health condition, he was released. In the second half, the Finns became more active, and during one of the attacks, Šiauliai's goal was saved by the crossbar. Unfortunately, HJK soon turned the score around. The goal was scored with a beautiful shot from about the penalty area line. At the end of the match, Napoli started pressing the opponents actively, but they ran out of time and luck to equalize the score. One of the last attacks could have ended with a goal, but when it seemed that the ball had no way but to go into the goal of the Finnish team, it hit the crossbar. A painful 1:2 defeat remained, and consolation matches were played, in which Napoli and Belgium's "Gent" fought for the last place in the tournament table. Before the final matches, it was revealed that Rytis Riabčinskis would not be able to play due to a chest injury suffered in the match against Finland. Rytis, like his team-mate, had to visit the Zagreb hospital. Darius Gulbinas couldn't play due to a neck injury. In the last match, FC Napoli coach Saulius Lesnickas could only change the goalkeeper, and in the second half, the goalkeeper replaced another injured field player.
The Šiauliai team started more actively in the match for the penultimate place. Rokas Urbelis dangerously struck the ball with a right-wing attack. Audrius Burzdžius finished another attack with a dangerous shot. However, luck was not on our side again. Aleksandras Babachinas deflected the first Belgian shot from the goal line, but another Belgian forward immediately struck the ball accurately into the goal corner. After scoring a goal, the Belgians seemed to get a second wind, and soon they were faster than Napoli defenders again and scored for the second time. At the beginning of the second half, the Šiauliai team was again more active than the opponents. With the Belgian goalkeeper inaccurately punching the ball, Edvinas Jasaitis nearly scored a goal from the middle of the field. The match went on very fiercely and competitively, with a lot of work for both team physicians. The Belgians scored their third goal and probably believed in an easy victory. However, this time the Lithuanians showed character. In two minutes, they managed to score two goals and equalize the score. Ernestas Pilypas successfully attacked by passing the ball to Rokas Urbelis, who scored a goal unchallenged with his head. Shortly after, Rokas scored again, this time accurately passing the ball to Edvinas Jasaitis, who defeated the Belgian goalkeeper for the second time. Rokas had the opportunity to lead the Šiauliai team forward but failed to beat the goalkeeper after escaping from the defenders. Nevertheless, in this tournament, fortune was not on Napoli's side. Trying to press the opponents more actively, Napoli's boys conceded a fourth goal in the last minute. The Belgian team's forward stood out with three goals in these dramatic matches.
After the last match, FC Napoli coach Saulius Lesnickas said: "It is not pleasant to return taking the last place, but I hope that the young footballers do not give up and take it as a good football lesson. We lacked luck in the last two matches. Just playing in the "Nike Premier Cup" tournament is a huge honor. Compared to our countries, the participating teams at a very high level. The players are better prepared physically, more technical. The boys were in football paradise this weekend. They had the opportunity to assess their capabilities by playing against the best European club teams. Seeing the boys' desire to improve and reach the level of their opponents, I want to continue working with them. I think that this generation of fifteen-year-olds from Napoli will still make a name for themselves. I hope the names of some of them will be praised by Lithuanian football journalists, and maybe not only Lithuanian ones. After being here, I have to regret again that our country does not have the conditions to train and compete in such a way. This is not only a problem of our club but a different approach to football from the State. We saw stadiums built in the mountains here, and the "Dinamo" sports complex impressed with the abundance of stadiums and the quality of pitches."
The "Brommapojkarna" from Sweden won the "Nike Premier Cup" tournament in Croatia. The "Nike Premier Cup" has been held for the 12th time. The tournament, where fifteen-year-old footballers' clubs have been playing since 1994, has seen stars such as Xavi (Barcelona), Jose Antonio Reyes (Arsenal), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Andy van der Mayde (Inter Milan), Helder Postiga (FC Porto), Ricardo Quaresima (FC Porto), Fernando Torres (Atletico de Madrid), and many other less-known footballers. They were all fifteen at the time. Six times until now, Spanish teams have won the tournament. Three times, this was achieved by Real Madrid's junior footballers. Last year in Helsinki, Prague's "Slavia" club became the European qualifying champions. This year, 30,000 young footballers started the tournament. Only 300 managed to break into the tournament in Zagreb. Only 30 of them will go to the "Manchester United Premier Cup" tournament in Hong Kong, where the best teams in the world will compete. In Croatia, this right was earned by the Russian "CASK" and the Swedish IF "Brommapojkarna". In the semifinals, "CASK" beat Zagreb's "Dinamo" 2:0, and "Brommapojkarna" defeated the Netherlands' "Sparta" 5:4 after a penalty shootout. In the consolation match for the third place, after the penalty shootout (1:1 in regular time), the hosts won 4:2.
In the final, the teams that reached the World final stage fought for the goal- "CASK" and "Brommapojkarna". The Swedes scored the first goal in the final, taking advantage of a goalkeeper's mistake. In the middle of the second half, the Russians equalized the score. After a penalty kick, the Swedish goalkeeper failed to hold the ball, and the captain of the CSKA team quickly rushed and scored a goal. Like in the match for the third place, everything was decided by a penalty shootout. The hero of the final was the Swedish goalkeeper Frederik Erikson, who repelled two Russian shots. The final score of the shootout was 4:2 in favor of "Brommapojkarna".
Perhaps these boys sometimes make childish mistakes, perhaps their shots are not as strong, but the technical, enthusiastic, precise, beautiful, and smart football that the best teams showed at this weekend in Zagreb may be envied by the Lithuanian A league. Undoubtedly, in the future, "Nike" will be able to boast that in their 2005 tournament, after 5-7 years, well-known football stars from all over the world played.
