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After the victory against the Ukrainian team, Lithuania's youth (U-21) national team coach Vitalijus Stankevičius praised the players for their fighting spirit and disciplined play.
Captain Tadas Eliošius, who scored the winning goal, attributed the credit to his teammates, while goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas stated that the team achieved victory as a united fist. Defender Martynas Dapkus said that despite missing one player, the coaches managed to organize the game well, and defender Donatas Nakrošius claimed that they managed to surpass the opponents in terms of fighting spirit.
U-21 national team head coach Vitalijus Stankevičius:
"The match was very tough. Even though we played at home, the Ukrainians were still the favorites. They previously defeated the Swedish leaders 6-0, which indicates their strength. But today the guys played very well, gave it their all.
The quick goal we scored was probably unexpected for them. We stuck to our game plan, counterattacked. Playing open football against a team like Ukraine would have been very difficult. We didn't give the opponents space, played disciplined. After the red card, we found ourselves in a tough situation, but we reshuffled the ranks and achieved our goal. Today we defeated the national team of a football country, the host of the European Championship.
Together with T. Eliošius and the national team from Estonia, we returned at 3 in the morning. I told him to play as much as he could. He did his job well today - he was the leader of the team's attacks, held the ball well. But the whole team played well."
U-21 national team captain and forward Tadas Eliošius:
"We are very happy - we earned our second victory, moved up the tournament table. The referee struggled a bit, but we fought hard, we tried until the end, and we won. It was very difficult to play without one player. I think that red card was shown unjustly.
The goal was scored by the whole team, I just had to put it in almost empty nets. I would give most of the credit to E. Veliulis. Such a victory should give us confidence in our abilities."
U-21 national team goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas:
"Such a loss to a small Lithuania must be painful for the Ukrainians. In the second half, after receiving a red card, I had to defend the entire team, from the forward to the goalkeeper. I had work to do, but luckily I managed to hold on. We achieved the victory together, as one fist."
U-21 national team defender Martynas Dapkus:
We gave a lot of energy. The opponent was really strong, a few days ago they crushed the Swedes. We were very focused in training camp, and today we tried to work on defense and score on counterattacks. It worked, and determined the further course of the game. The red card threw us off a bit, but the coach organized us well, and in the second half, we did not lose our composure. Sometimes it even seemed as if we didn't miss that player. We fought as equals until the end."
U-21 national team defender Donatas Nakrošius:
We expected tough matches, and that's exactly what they were. We surpassed the opponents in terms of fighting spirit. We played against the Ukrainians not only in qualifiers but also in the Friendship tournament, so we knew their tactics well. They based their game on one high forward. The red card can be argued, it changed the game, but we sorted it out. We had to give a lot of energy, at the end they were already lacking it, we had to fend off attacks."
