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The Lithuanian national men's football team gathered in Skopje yesterday, where they will meet with the Macedonian national team on Wednesday.
After a long journey to the Balkan country, the team arrived in Macedonia to see a dual side of Macedonia - not only with its historical heritage and new national stadium, but also with impoverished surroundings and a barren training field.
Ancient history traces
"Welcome to the cradle of civilization," - greeted by a text message sent to their phones upon arrival in the Macedonian capital. Macedonians accentuate ancient history everywhere. The national stadium named after Greek king Philip II, and his son Alexander III of Macedon - both the airport and many other places - for example, a well-appointed hotel where the Lithuanian team stayed.
The journey to Skopje started at 4:00 am from Vilnius for some players and staff of the team, and it ended in the afternoon. Along the way - in Riga and Vienna - another part of foreign-based football players joined the team. A few more arrived directly in Macedonia.
Forward Tomas Danilevičius arrived shortly before the first training session, which was held on Monday evening. The refreshing training session included jogging, warm-up exercises, and light ball exercises.
On Tuesday night, the last three members - Deividas Šemberas, Edgaras Česnauskis, and Marius Žaliūkas - joined the team. The only player missing from the team list was Andrius Velička, representing an Azerbaijan club, whose visa issues prevented him from attending.
Tactical work began on Tuesday morning - the team coaches presented their plans to the players who joined the team for the first time this year, coordinating the execution of set-piece plays.
The players looked enviously at the massive, recently renovated 37,000-seat "Phillip II Arena" stadium, but were not thrilled about the adjacent poorly-maintained training field. However, on the eve of the match, the Lithuanians will have the opportunity to practice at the main stadium.
Notable opponents
Assistant coach Vitalijus Stankevičius is one of the best acquainted with Macedonia. The experienced specialist visited this Balkan country for the third time. The first time V. Stankevičius was here with the FBK "Kaunas" club in 2001 Champions League qualifiers, and the second time - three years ago with the youth (U-21 team). Both times our national teams played draw games (0:0 and 1:1).
"We played in the same stadium with Kaunas team, but at that time there was only one grandstand, and now a new beautiful stadium is built. The youth team had to play not in the capital, but in the mountains in the city of Prilep," - shared impressions V. Stankevičius - Macedonia is in the stage of formation, there is still a lack of basic order, the environment is quite dirty.
According to V. Stankevičius, the leaders of the Macedonian team represent famous clubs individually, but this does not guarantee that as a team Macedonia will be superior on the field.
"There are players from powerful Italian, German, Ukrainian, Belgian clubs in the Macedonian team. However, I think that the abilities of both teams are similar. Macedonian players have gone through the Yugoslav school, they are technical. It will be interesting to test our strength against such a team, preparing for the qualification battles with the Slovaks and Greeks," - said V. Stankevičius.
According to him, our team is preparing for the match against Macedonia almost in full force, and with these matches, they will complete the team's qualification and the entire preparation cycle. "Head coach Csaba Laszlo has finished getting to know all the players, observed their play in clubs. These matches are important because we can assess our capabilities before the autumn qualification cycle matches."
"Siauliai" forward hopes for his chance
One of the players who can step into the qualification cycle "train" is forward Artūras Rimkevičius, who has not played in the national team for two years. The 29-year-old "Siauliai" footballer caught the attention of the new national team coach Cs. Laszlo because this season he plays very productively - the forward with 19 goals is the top scorer in the Lithuanian championship.
"I hoped for the call deep in my heart, but in any case, it is pleasant that it happened, and I am here. I have been in national and youth team camps many times. All the guys are familiar, so I don't feel like a stranger," - said A. Rimkevičius.
He is one of the four players who arrived in the national team from Lithuanian clubs. A. Rimkevičius will compete with the team's veterans Tomas Danilevičius, Darvydas Šernas, and Tadas Labukas for a place in the starting lineup. "It will be interesting to test my strength. We will see what I am worth. I hope to get a chance to perform on the field," - said the forward with optimism.
A. Rimkevičius said that he was impressed by the goals set by the national team strategist Cs. Laszlo: "It is clear that the coach has a goal and aims to achieve victories with this team and maybe even advance to further stages of the competition. I believe that with this team, it is possible, but it will take a lot of effort."
The Lithuanian and Macedonian national teams will meet on Wednesday at 8:30 pm local time. On September 7th, Lithuanians will play their first 2014 World Cup qualification cycle match against Slovakia in Vilnius.
