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The Lithuanian national team this week begins preparation for the final matches of the 2006 World Cup qualifying cycle - on October 8 and 12 our team will play at home against Serbia and Montenegro as well as Belgium.
In the first match against Serbia, defenders Deividas Šemberas and Edgaras Česnauskis will be missing, the former due to two yellow cards and the latter due to a five-match suspension. Captain Aurelijus Skarbalius cannot play due to a foot injury, but another defender Nerijus Barasa is recovering and is invited to the national team camp - according to head coach Algimantas Liubinskas, he should be fit for the match against Belgium.
Approaching the end of the qualifying cycle, and with the Lithuanian national team again needing success and skill in the most important matches to secure second place in the group, A. Liubinskas stated that he is not disappointed with the team and believes in its future.
"There are only two matches left in the World Cup qualifying. It is very unfortunate that our goals and dreams of going to the World Cup in Germany next year have not been realized. The most important thing is that the Lithuanian national football team did everything to qualify for the final stage, the desire was endless, but luck was lacking. The Lithuanian team is the only one in our group where substitutes play. Only a minority of our footballers play mostly in their clubs," the coach said.
"In my opinion, the national team and coaching staff are on the right path. Our group's opponents fear us. We will have to postpone our hopes and biggest dreams for the next stage. Right now, the most important thing is not to stop halfway. Group 7 is very strong, except for the San Marino team. It is good that we have entered the positions of the group leaders in this stage. Today we are on the right path. Many players have moved from the bench to the main squad - Savėnas, Paulauskas, Stankevičius, Skerla, Karčemarskas, Džiaukštas, D. Česnauskis, Mikoliūnas. So the team has greatly changed," A. Liubinskas pondered.
"The goal of the final matches is to play well against Serbia and Montenegro, who have scored the most goals against us, and also to perform as best as possible in the tough matches against Belgium," set the final tasks for the national team's strategist this year.
For the final matches, the coach decided to rely practically on the same lineup as in many previous matches, and did not invite new people to replace the players unable to play: the injured backup goalkeeper G. Padimanskas will be replaced by the youth national team goalkeeper M. Malinauskas, former G. Paulauskas will simply take A. Skarbaļs' place on the field in defense, I. Morinas will be moved from the forwards to the substitutes instead of E. Česnauskis in defense, and after a short break, A. Laurišui will be given the substitute role in the attacking line.
National team lineup for matches against Serbia and Montenegro and Belgium:
Goalkeepers: 1. Žydrūnas Karčemarskas (Moscow "Dynamo", Russia) 2. Mindaugas Malinauskas (Vilnius "Žalgiris", Lithuania)
Defenders: 3. Marius Stankevičius ("Brescia", Italy) 4. Tomas Žvirgždauskas ("Halmstads", Sweden) 5. Andrius Skerla (Tomsk "Tom", Russia) 6. Gediminas Paulauskas (Panevėžys "Ekranas", Lithuania) 7. Arūnas Klimavičius (Panevėžys "Ekranas", Lithuania) 8. Rolandas Džiaukštas (Moscow region "Saturn", Russia) 9. Darius Žutautas (Vladikavkaz "Alania", Russia)
Midfielders: 10. Saulius Mikoliūnas (Edinburgh "Hearts", Scotland) 11. Deividas Šemberas (Moscow "CSKA", Russia) 12. Mantas Savėnas (Panevėžys "Ekranas", Lithuania) 13. Aidas Preikšaitis (Vilnius "Vėtra", Lithuania) 14. Deividas Česnauskis (Edinburgh "Hearts", Scotland) 15. Igoris Morinas (Vilnius "Žalgiris", Lithuania) 16. Nerijus Barasa (Samara "Krylya Sovetov", Russia)
Forwards: 17. Edgaras Jankauskas (Edinburgh "Hearts", Scotland) 18. Tomas Danilevičius ("Avellino", Italy) 19. Robertas Poškus (Saint Petersburg "Zenit", Russia) 20. Tomas Radzinevičius (Marijampolė "Sūduva", Lithuania) 21. Aivaras Laurišas (Klaipėda "Atlantas", Lithuania)
