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The Lithuanian youth (U-21) football team will finish the 2011 European U-21 Championship qualifying matches today. Before the final match against England, Lithuanian coach Vitalijus Stankevičius said that it would be a good test for the depleted and rejuvenated team.
Loss of seniors - a chance for juniors
A year ago in Vilnius, the Lithuanian youth team played a 0-0 draw against England, but since then our team has been depleted by injuries. Defenders Deivydas Matulevičius and Lukas Kochanauskas have long been recovering from injuries, while Eivinas Zagurskas and Marius Papšys got injured before the last trip, and Povilas Krasnovskis traveled with the team to Denmark and England, but has not fully recovered.
"Povilas tried to train, but felt pain. Therefore, we will be missing quite a few players who have played against England. Our team will be much younger - we will only have four footballers born in 1989. These matches will toughen the character of our younger players. We will see what the juniors are worth. Playing against a team like England is a rare opportunity and a good test," V.Stankevičius said.
According to the coach, the Lithuanians' slight advantage will be that the English team must win in order to compete for one of the tickets, which go to the teams that finish in second place in the group: "We have nothing to lose, but the English only need a victory. Therefore, they will be under psychological pressure, and we will not. Unless we manage to score an early goal. But we will try not to let them do that."
Playing in a new stadium
Preparing for the match in England, the Lithuanian youth team played a 1:1 draw against the Danish team on Friday. This result lifted the spirits of the team before the tough trip to England. On late Sunday evening, the team had already settled in Ipswich, and on Monday evening they went to train in Colchester, where the match will take place.
"The trip was difficult, but the guys have already recovered today (Monday - ed. note). The match stadium is almost new, accommodates 10 thousand spectators, the pitch is excellent. It was a pleasure for the team to train. The large field was probably chosen not by accident so that there is more space to overcome our defense. It is important to win matches one-on-one. If we succeed, everything should be fine," V.Stankevičius optimistically said.
Minimal victory may not be enough for England
The intrigue of the match is added by the fact that England may need not only to win but also to win by a greater goal difference. Only four teams from the ten groups with the best results will reach the play-offs, along with the teams that finish 1-5 in their respective groups.
"Teams will have enough points in three groups, and the goal difference between the fourth ticket in the fight between three groups will probably be decisive. Initially, we will try to win the match, and then - by a larger margin. What happens next - only God knows. It is really very difficult to pass this qualifier," said England U-21 coach Stuart Pearce.
On Friday, England's footballers won a crucial match away 1-0 against the Portuguese team and secured the second position. The only goal was scored by "Chelsea" forward Daniel Sturridge.
The match between the England and Lithuania U-21 teams will start on Tuesday at 18:00 Lithuanian time. The referee for the match will be Slovenia's Matej Jugas.
Lithuanian U-21 team lineup for the match against England:
Goalkeepers: Vytautas Černiauskas (FC "Vaslui", Romania) Armantas Vitkauskas (Marijampolės "Sūduva", Lithuania)
Defenders: Mantas Fridrikas (FBK "Kaunas", Lithuania) Vytautas Andriuškevičius (Gdansk "Lechia", Poland) Linas Klimavičius (Kryvyi Rih "Kryvbas", Ukraine) Karolis Urbaitis (Gargždai "Banga", Lithuania) Egidijus Vaitkūnas (Vilnius "Žalgiris", Lithuania) Marius Miškinis (FBK "Kaunas", Lithuania)
Midfielders: Karolis Chvedukas (Marijampolės "Sūduva", Lithuania) Artūras Žulpa (Pakruojis "Kruoja", Lithuania) Edvinas Jasaitis (FK "Šiauliai", Lithuania) Edgaras Mastianica (Vilnius "Žalgiris", Lithuania) Ernestas Biskys (FC "Klaipėda", Lithuania) Fedor Černych (Mogilev "Dnepr", Belarus) Gytis Gailius (Gargždai "Banga", Lithuania)
Forwards: Audrius Brokas (Marijampolės "Sūduva", Lithuania) Tadas Eliošius (Pakruojis "Kruoja", Lithuania) Arvydas Novikovas (Edinburgh "Hearts", Scotland)
England U-21 team lineup for the match against Lithuania:
Goalkeepers: Frankie Fielding ("Blackburn Rovers") Alex Smithies ("Huddersfield Town") Jason Steele ("Middlesbrough")
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand ("Nottingham Forest"; loaned from "Chelsea") Phil Jones ("Blackburn Rovers") Martin Kelly ("Liverpool") Michael Mancienne (London "Chelsea") Chris Smalling ("Manchester United") Kyle Walker (London "Tottenham")
Midfielders: Marc Albrighton (Birmingham "Aston Villa") Tom Cleverley ("Manchester United") Jack Cork ("Burnley"; loaned from "Chelsea") Jordan Henderson ("Sunderland") Fabrice Muamba ("Bolton Wanderers") Danny Rose (London "Tottenham") Jack Wilshere (London "Arsenal")
Forwards: Nathan Delfouneso (Birmingham "Aston Villa") Daniel Sturridge (London "Chelsea") Danny Welbeck ("Sunderland"; loaned from "Manchester United")
