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The Lithuanian national football team arrived in Estonia after a long journey, where they will play their first Baltic Cup match against neighbors from Latvia today.
"Latvia will be motivated to play against their neighbor. Especially since we are the cup holders and everyone wants to beat us," said national team coach Csaba Laszlo on the eve of the match.
The match will be broadcasted online from 17:15 on www.Futbolo.TV
No organizational problems
After a hard-fought 0:0 draw with the Russian team in Switzerland, the Lithuanian national team faced a tiring twelve-hour journey to Estonia. From Geneva via Frankfurt, the Lithuanians flew to Tallinn, and from there they traveled by bus to the town of Otepää in the south of the country.
The hosts' organizational quirks further prolonged the journey - the team was not greeted by an escort, and the driver wandered quite a bit before ultimately reaching their destination.
Located in Otepää - a winter resort town with just 3,000 inhabitants in Estonia - our footballers quickly felt the contrasts between Swiss luxury and Estonian humility.
The team's administration had to negotiate until hotel representatives provided minimal facilities - setting up a massage room, equipment storage room, and ensuring adequate meals. However, the players had to "hunt" for the hotel's non-functioning wireless internet in the lobby. This area was constantly crowded with footballers in their free time.
The Estonian hosts chose this location because of its geographical position - Otepää is between Võru and Tartu, where the Baltic Cup matches will take place.
Changes in the lineup
Three players who played against Russia did not travel to Estonia - Saulius Mikoliūnas and Darvydas Šernas were released for personal reasons, and Deividas Česnauskis will soon have to return to prepare for the season in Azerbaijan.
Saulius Klevinskas will replace goalkeeper Armantas Vitkauskas in the Baltic Cup tournament, and the team was also supplemented by two players playing in Lithuania - defenders Mantas Kuklys and Vaidotas Šilėnas from Vilnius's "Žalgiris".
The team also planned to have Donatas Petrauskas, a defender from Pakruojis' "Kruoja", but he suffered an injury in the championship matches.
Defending the title will be harder
On Monday, Lithuanian footballers had to hold a training session in a remote location - the village of Tilsi. The recently built stadium did not have field lines marked, so the coaches had to improvise by marking them with cones. Nevertheless, the national team's coach Cs. Laszlo was satisfied with the practice.
"We tried to introduce new players to the training sessions, familiarize them with tactics. The guys worked very focused, and that's very important," the coach told Futbolo.TV - "Against the Russians, we showed that we can play against strong teams. Now we need to show that it was not a coincidence."
According to him, Lithuanians are obligated by the trophies they won two years ago in these matches, but that by no means guarantees them the status of favorites. "I know everything about the opponent needed, but each match is different, and Latvia will be motivated to play against their neighbor. Especially since we are the cup holders and everyone wants to beat us. The reality is that we are lagging behind our opponents in the FIFA rankings. We need to try to change that," said the Hungarian.
The coach was pleased that players from the Lithuanian championship had the chance to prove that they are worthy of playing for the national team. "It's great that debutants like Borovskis, Vaitkūnas, Matulevičius got a chance to play against Russia. Also, Andriuškevičius, who is not doing well in the club, showed his abilities. Players like Velička and Radavičius have been candidates for the national team for a long time, but they didn't really succeed, and in the last matches, they performed very well. I want the team to have a mix of youth and experience, and to play those who are proud of it," Cs. Laszlo explained.
Emphasizing his game analysis
According to defender Tadas Kijanskas, the focus of the training and team gatherings was on their own team's game and the analysis of mistakes from previous matches.
"The coaching staff analyzed the last Latvian matches with the Poles, but they focused more on our game - tactical maneuvers in defense, attack," T. Kijanskas told Futbolo.TV - "Just because we are the winners, we will try to defend our title."
Defender Gediminas Vičius was pleased that the successful match in Switzerland gave the team an emotional boost.
"The mood will definitely be lifted. When you play well in one match, it's nice to start the next one with a better mood," G. Vičius told Futbolo.TV - "There are losses, but I believe we have good players who can fill the gaps."
The match between the Lithuanian and Latvian national teams will take place today at 17:30 at the Võru stadium. The match will be broadcasted live online on the "Futbolo.TV" website. The broadcast is scheduled to start at 17:15.
The winner of the match will meet the winner of the Estonia and Finland matches in the final.
