© EuroFootball.com
In Lithuania, an international journalists' football tournament has been held for the ninth consecutive year. At the invitation of the tournament organizers, the Lithuanian Journalists' Union's sports journalists' club "Press," nine teams from six countries - Lithuania, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Egypt - visited Druskininkai.
The main tournament sponsor, the betting company "Oracle," established by Odessa journalists, won the tournament debutant trophy, scoring 20 points. The Ukrainians won six games and drew twice.
The hosts of the tournament, the "Press" journalists, also played without losses, with four wins and four draws. The "Press" journalists secured the silver medals with a victory in the last round 2:1 against the third-placed team from Bryansk (Russia). Both teams collected 16 points. Only one point separated this year's Lithuanian journalists' football championship winners, the team from Kaunas, from the prize winners. The Kaunas team finished fourth with 15 points.
At the closing ceremony, the tournament participants enjoyed a gift from the Mayor of Druskininkai, a roasted deer. Champions and prize winners received not only trophies and medals but also specially made "hummel" shirts for the tournament. The tournament debutants - journalists from Odessa, Germany, and Egypt - received traditional Lithuanian hats as gifts, made by "Kauno Grain."
After the tournament fervor on the football field, journalists moved to the TV screens. They watched the UEFA Champions League final, where Munich's "Bayern" and Dortmund's "Borussia" players competed. Journalists divided into two camps - German journalists who arrived from Dortmund supported "Borussia," while representatives from Luck supported the "Bayern" team, as the Ukrainian defender Aleksei Tymoshchuk started his career at "Bayern."
"This year's tournament was notable for the abundance of debutants. Next year will mark the anniversary - the tenth tournament, so we hope to welcome even more guests. Scottish, Danish, Latvian, Polish, and journalists from other countries have played in tournaments in Lithuania before, unfortunately, not everyone could come this year because the tournament coincided with the UEFA Champions League final, and sports journalists had to work on their direct assignments," said the chairman of the sports journalists' club "Press," Tautvydas Vencevicius.
The sports journalists' club "Press," which unites more than a thousand journalists within the Lithuanian Journalists' Union, was founded in 2005. The club organizes traditional tournaments every year - the international journalists' football tournament, the Lithuanian journalists' football and basketball championships. "Press" journalists represent Lithuania in international journalists' tournaments held abroad.
