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The head coach of the Lithuanian national football team, Csaba Laszlo, shared his impressions from a visit to Scotland with the media on Tuesday, where he watched the U-17 team's matches in the UEFA European Championship "Elite" qualification phase.
"In many aspects, we did not fall behind our opponents, but we need to have more confidence in our abilities," Cs. Laszlo said.
Academy players caught the eye
The national team coach watched the Lithuanian youth games in Group 6 of the UEFA U-17 Championship "Elite" qualification phase with the hosts Scotland, Denmark, and Iceland from March 20-25 in Scotland. According to the coach, he paid more attention to individual player prospects rather than team results.
"This team played in the "Elite" phase for the first time in history, which is already a good result. However, I was most interested in individual players, and some of them left a really good impression. I spoke with scouts who watched the matches. They were particularly impressed by National Football Academy players defender Julius Aleksandravicius and midfielder Tadas Lekeckas. It is very good because for academies, the most important thing is player development, not just results," Cs. Laszlo said.
In the coach's opinion, the youth team lacked confidence in their abilities and attentiveness during the tournament in Scotland, especially at the beginning of the matches. "We should not overestimate ourselves, but it is important to have confidence in our abilities. In my opinion, we greatly lacked that. We often conceded goals at the start of matches. Later we played evenly, not falling behind our opponents technically or physically, and maybe even surpassing them in the latter aspect. We also conceded many goals from set pieces. This needs to be corrected," the specialist said.
Cs. Laszlo expressed his opinion about the youth team and suggestions at the end of last week when he met with National Football Academy coaches: "I mentioned what was negative and positive. I am glad that they listened to my advice and were interested in it. We have started to collaborate and are trying to move in the same direction. We need to learn from mistakes in preparation for the European U-19 Championship final stage, which will take place in Lithuania next year."
Lack of playing practice
In Scotland, Cs. Laszlo also watched a league match of the Scottish "Premier" League between "St. Johnstone" and Edinburgh "Hearts". The latter team includes Marius Zaliukas and Arvydas Novikovas.
"I am pleased that A. Novikovas played for about 65 minutes after the break. However, he still needs to improve - for a young national team candidate, he lacks playing practice. Arvydas was also in my coached 'Hearts' team, but he did not manage to make the leap into the first team," Cs. Laszlo said.
The team strategist also recently spoke with one of the team's former players Deividas Semberas: "It's a pity that he plays very little, but he can be useful to the national team because of his experience and leadership qualities, even when not on the field."
Selecting potential candidates
Over the weekend, Vilnius "Zalgiris" became the sole leader in the "General Financing A League", crushing Marijampole "Suduva". According to Cs. Laszlo, who watched the match at the LFF stadium, both teams have potential national team players.
"Although 'Zalgiris' won a clear victory, I was more interested in individual players. Both teams have potential national team candidates. In the Vilnius team, goalkeeper Marius Rapalis and defender Algis Jankauskas left a good impression. In the 'Suduva' team, defender Valdemaras Borovskis impressed the most this month. The teams also have capable foreign players. Saturday will see very interesting matches between 'Zalgiris' and the upcoming Panevezys 'Ekranas'," the coach shared his impressions.
According to Cs. Laszlo, a lot of potential national team candidates will be able to be tested in the summer when the Lithuanian team will play not only in the Baltic Cup but also in friendly matches with the Russian and Belarusian national teams.
Next week, the coach plans not only to continue watching the Lithuanian championship matches but also to visit our country's footballers playing in neighboring Poland.
