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The Lithuanian U-16 national football team (players born in 1996 and younger) had a beneficial rehearsal on Thursday before the upcoming European Championship qualifying matches in the fall - their peers from the well-known football country Greece came to Lithuania to play a friendly match. Scoring goals at the beginning and end of the match, the visitors won with a score of 2:0.
"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities, while the opponents did. Playing against such a strong opponent was a good rehearsal before the qualifying matches," said national team coach Vytautas Vaškūnas.
Early goal
It was raining heavily during almost the entire match in Kaunas, at the National Football Academy Stadium. The Lithuanians adapted better to these conditions at the beginning of the match, but they failed to capitalize on the opponents' mistakes - twice our players missed the goal from the penalty box.
The first dangerous attempt by the Greeks ended in a goal - the opponents scored after a strong and precise shot from the edge of the penalty area. The team, made up of players from the Greek giants Athens' Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, slowly took control. However, both teams mostly attempted attacks in the first half with inaccurate shots from afar.
Missed opportunities
At the beginning of the second half, goalkeeper Edvinas Gertmonas made a great save after a dangerous Greek shot from the edge of the penalty area. In the 66th and 71st minutes, our team had two good opportunities to equalize the score.
However, in the first episode, after a mistake by the goalkeeper Tomas Dombrauskis, he failed to take advantage of the situation and find open teammates, while in the second, after a shot by Tomas Rukas, the opponents were saved by the goalkeeper. As the match was coming to an end, the opponents solidified their lead after a pass from the edge - 0:2.
Successful zonal defense
"The result could have been better, but I would positively evaluate the team's fighting spirit and the fact that we avoided major mistakes. We had a couple of opportunities and we didn't use them, while the Greeks capitalized on their chances. It's mastery, after all, they are stronger. For us, such a capable opponent was a very good rehearsal before the qualifying matches. We saw our level. I think we are capable of competing against such teams," said V. Vaškūnas.
According to the coach, the team played in such a formation for the first time. The coach was pleased that he managed to gather players from clubs and was satisfied with the play of the team leaders. "They performed well, demonstrated a fighter's mentality, and that positive energy transferred to less experienced teammates."
The Lithuanian football players plan to play against the Greeks once again in the visitors' stadium. The Lithuanian U-17 team of this age group will meet teams from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Latvia in the European U-17 Championship qualifying matches at the end of October.
Match statistics
Lithuania U-16 - Greece U-16 0:2 (0:1) Referee - Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania) Kaunas National Football Academy Stadium Spectators - 500 Goals: 9th min. M-P.Niouman, 77th min. P.Grossios (Greece). Yellow cards: 19th min. S.Rakauskas, 62nd min. T.Dombrauskis, 74th min. D.Šėgžda (Lithuania), 39th min. S.Toumanidis (Greece)
Lithuania U-16: Edvinas Gertmonas, Lukas Pupšys, Ernestas Pečiulis, Benas Spietinis, Domantas Šimkus (77th min. Laimonas Jurevičius), Tomas Dombrauskis, Donatas Šėgžda, Skirmantas Rakauskas, Edvinas Puzara (56th min. Vilius Drazdauskas), Audrius Laučys (46th min. Ainas Bareikis), Tomas Rukas (73rd min. Tomas Keršulis). Substitutes: Deividas Šalaševičius, Rimvydas Sadauskas, Pranas Šimanauskas, Andrius Rukas.
