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Lithuania's national team lost for the first time in a fierce and nerve-wracking battle at the "Mestalla" stadium in Valencia during the 2006 World Cup 7th qualifying group match against the Spanish national team with a minimal result of 1-0. The victory for the hosts was sealed by Alberto Luque's goal in the middle of the second half. Spain [1 - 0] Lithuania 69' [1 - 0] Alberto Luque Team lineups Spain: Casillas; Salgado, Marchena, Puyol, Del Horno (61' Luis Garcia); Joaquin, Albelda, Xavi, Vicente; Torres (56' Luque), Raul (75' Sergio Ramos) Lithuania: Karčemarskas; Paulauskas, Džiaukštas, Skerla, Žvirgždauskas; D.Česnauskis (73' Mikoliūnas), Barasa, Kučys (46' Preikšaitis), Morinas (73' E.Česnauskis); Danilevičius, Poškus From the beginning of the match, the Spaniards took the initiative and controlled the ball for the majority of the time. Nevertheless, the visitors defended quite smoothly and did not allow the obvious match favorites to score a goal. Our team also crafted a few counterattacks, but the Spanish defenders neutralized the threats. Toward the end of the first half, players from both national teams clashed. Tomas Danilevičius brought down an opponent, who retaliated by pushing the Lithuanian player. This led to the intervention of teammates from both sides, and after some intensity, the Italian referee cautioned Joaquin and T. Danilevičius. From the start of the second half, the hosts pressed the Lithuanians near their goal and threatened them several times, with one incident seeing Karčemarskas successfully block a header from Raul. Despite the pressure, it was R. Poškus who was the first to head the ball into the net, but the referee disallowed the goal since he was in an offside position. The Spaniards continued to attack dangerously, and in the 66th minute, Xavi's shot after a free-kick shook the crossbar of Karčemarskas's goal. Not giving up, the hosts finally scored a goal - Alberto Luque, who came on as a substitute, sent the ball into the corner of the net with a precise shot from 18 meters with his left foot, beating our goalkeeper. After conceding the goal, the Lithuanian national team made a late surge and created several dangerous attacks. At one point, a strong shot from Poškus narrowly missed the goal, and later, during added time, an active player had a real chance to score, but his long-range shot was deflected by Iker Casillas's fingertips. As the match drew to a close, the Spaniards began to waste time and, without hesitation and to the annoyance of the unwilling referee, achieved a modest and hard-fought victory against the commendably fighting Lithuanians. The Lithuanian national team will play their next match on September 3rd against Serbia and Montenegro. Other results from Group 7: San Marino 1 - 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 17' [0 - 1] Hasan Salihamidzic 39' [0 - 2] Hasan Salihamidzic 40' [1 - 2] Andy Selva 75' [1 - 3] Sergej Barbarez Serbia and Montenegro 0 - 0 Belgium Standings: 1. Serbia and Montenegro 6 3 3 0 10-0 12 2. Spain 6 3 3 0 9-1 12 3. Lithuania 6 2 3 1 7-3 9 4. Belgium 6 2 2 2 7-7 8 5. Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 1 3 1 6-7 6 6. San Marino 7 0 0 7 2-23 0
