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This Sunday, the eyes of all football fans in the country will turn to Marijampolė, where the strongest teams in Lithuania will meet in the football cup final: the country's champions, Panevėžys "Ekranas" and Vilnius "Žalgiris".
In thoughts about the upcoming match, goalkeeper Aurimas Kučys and forward Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, who played in the finals against the capital's club in 2000 and 2003, shared their views.
Mindset, psychology, and the factor of luck
According to the forward, "Ekranas" is prepared for the upcoming final: "We are in good shape, in good condition. We have won 11 games in a row, only with "Šiauliai" we were a bit unlucky. However, we do not lose our heads because of that, we will fight with all 100 percent and hope for victory against "Žalgiris". The opponents have an advantage in that they have already played twice in Marijampolė, we have not played there yet. However, I think this is not an obstacle for us to show our strength and beat them. I remember that final in 2000, when I entered the field after a substitution for fifteen minutes, we won, I was probably 18 years old. It was a tough and intense battle, I think it will be the same on Sunday. The one who scores the first goal should win the final. The winner is determined by mindset, psychology, and the factor of luck," - V. Kavaliauskas spoke before Friday's training session.
Await the support of fans
Goalkeeper Aurimas Kučys believes that experience will help fight against the Žalgiris who have not tasted such high-ranking matches for a long time. "The cup final awaits, the opponent deserves it. It won't be easy, but I think one of our advantages is that we have had more of these important matches than the opponents. Experience will give us an advantage. We hope to win the cup for the third consecutive year. I think that there will be a large number of supporters from Panevėžys, we hope for good support. It would be nice if the "Ekrano" fan stand was as crowded as ever.
Perhaps the pitch surface can influence certain nuances in the match, "Žalgiris" has already played twice in Marijampolė, we have not played yet. These are just the cup finals, so the pitch surface will not have much influence," - A. Kučys spoke on Friday.
