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On Thursday, the Lithuanian national football team will finish a friendly match marathon before the qualifying tournament for the 2014 World Cup begins in September. On Tuesday, football players participated in a training session in Vilnius, and on Wednesday they will leave for Minsk to play against Belarus.
The first three friendly matches showed different faces of the team. Lithuania played a draw with Russia, but suffered painful defeats against Latvia and Estonia. In these first matches, the Lithuanians did not score any goals, so the defenders of the team hope to break the ice in Minsk.
“How is the preparation going for the upcoming match against Belarus?” - we asked T. Kijanskas.
“We returned after a tough journey from Estonia and rested for only one day. Today we gathered at the hotel and will start preparing for the upcoming match in training. Everything will proceed at the usual pace.
“Belarus - what kind of opponent is it, what makes the team of this country dangerous?”
“The last time we played against Belarus in Kaunas and lost 0:2. They have many high-level players and we are facing a tough match. The Gleb brothers play a key role in their team, and we will have a lot of work with them. They will want to perform well in front of their fans, and we will want to rehabilitate ourselves after the Baltic Cup. I hope we can score a goal and win there.
“What playing goals will you set for the away game?”
“We always go to fight and compete only for victory. Each time we have different coach's instructions, but not every time we manage to implement them on the field. I can assure you that everyone is putting in a lot of effort. The coach brought a new wind, the requirements have changed slightly, playing instructions have changed. The coach has prepared a plan for the upcoming match, he will present it during the meeting and we will go to fight.
“You played three matches with the new coach. In your opinion, what does the team's game lack the most?”
“What is missing? The players themselves, both I myself and others, need to ask themselves what we are missing. Our team is new, the playing style is changing, the coach has his vision and we need time to adapt, to play together, to feel his plan. In the match against Estonia, we tried to start playing the ball from defense, but it didn't always work. The Estonians punished us, interrupted our attacks. The coach said he was satisfied with our game after the match. On the other hand, you cannot be satisfied when you lose. Players should give more of themselves and everything will be fine.
“These will be the last friendly matches. How important is it to finish them on a positive note?”
“You always want to start and finish well. There is no doubt that every time we go out to fight only for victory. When we lose, we receive a lot of criticism, but we move forward, because we listen to the criticism and try not to repeat the mistakes.”
