© EuroFootball.com
Upon arriving on Monday evening to the first training camp of this year for the Lithuanian national football team in Turkey, nature prepared unpleasant surprises. In the popular resort of Antalya, Lithuanians were not greeted by sun and warmth, but by endless rain and storms, which forced the team to adjust their plans for the upcoming friendly matches against the Kazakhstan national team.
The composition of the team also changed – three injured players stayed home, and Mantas Kuklys joined the team.
Canceled practices and interrupted matches.
The choice of Antalya for the duel between the Kazakhstan and Lithuanian national teams was not accidental – due to excellent climate conditions and developed service infrastructure, Eastern European teams flock here in the winter.
Along with the Lithuanians, footballers from the "Baikal" club also traveled through Moscow to Turkey, and upon arriving at the "Topkapi Palace" hotel, the national team players met former teammates who are now scattered across Russia, Ukraine, or other neighboring countries.
However, the forces of nature provided the footballers with involuntary rest – the sky, which was overcast for the second day in a row, covered not only the training fields and stadiums, but also part of the city streets, hotel complex entrances, and paths.
At the nearby Belek stadium, footballers from "Minsk" and Chabarovsk "SKA-Energia" had to interrupt their friendly matches earlier due to lightning.
Before the trip – three losses.
The Lithuanian national team staff received unwelcome news before departure. Defender Vytautas Andriuškevičius suffered an injury during training in Sweden, and goalkeeper Karolis Chvedukas – while warming up before the friendly match with "Sūduva". Due to a recurring injury, Gratas Sirgėdas remained in Germany.
Defender Mantas Kuklys was invited to reinforce the team. He arrived from a Czech club to join the team with defender Egidijus Vaitkūnas.
Representing Sevastopol club, Saulius Mikoliūnas had to change his flight route, but he successfully reached Turkey. Defender Tadas Kijanskas will join the team on Tuesday, as on Monday evening he played in the Israeli championship representing Haifa's "Hapoel".
The duel between the Kazakhstan and Lithuanian national teams is scheduled for Wednesday at 17:00 local time at the Mardan Sports Complex stadium.
Lithuanian national team lineup for the match against Kazakhstan:
Goalkeepers: Giedrius Arlauskis ("Rubin" Kazan, Russia) and Emilijus Zubas ("Viborg", Denmark)
Defenders: Tadas Kijanskas ("Hapoel Haifa", Israel), Valdemaras Borovskis ("Daugava" Riga, Latvia), Marius Žaliūkas ("Leeds United", England), Georgas Freidgeimas (Vilnius MFD "Žalgiris"), Egidijus Vaitkūnas ("Bohemians 1905" Prague, Czech Republic), Aurimas Vilkaitis ("Lazio" Rome, Italy)
Midfielders: Saulius Mikoliūnas ("Sevastopol", Ukraine), Mindaugas Panka ("Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona", Israel), Mindaugas Kalonas ("Simurq" Qazvin, Azerbaijan), Fedor Chernykh ("Dnepr" Mogilev, Belarus), Gediminas Vičius ("Shakhtar" Karagandy, Kazakhstan), Arvydas Novikovas ("Erzgebirge Aue", Germany), Deimantas Petravičius ("Nottingham Forest", England), Mantas Kuklys ("Bohemians 1905" Prague, Czech Republic)
Forwards: Nerijus Valskis ("Universitatea Craiova", Romania), Simonas Stankevičius ("Leicester City", England), Lukas Spalvis ("Aalborg", Denmark)
