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Approaching the Lithuanian national team's match with Scotland in Kaunas, guests from Great Britain were upset at the poor quality of the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium pitch on the eve of the match, even complaining to UEFA representatives.
According to the Scottish press, the players and coaches of the national team, upon arrival for training, saw a surface more akin to "plowing rather than a football pitch, with barely visible lines," while defender Nigel Quashie claimed it "looks like a motocross track." Describing the pitch conditions as "terrible," Scottish representatives complained, and UEFA delegate Alan Hutchings threatened sanctions against the Lithuanian Football Federation if maintenance work wasn't carried out before the match.
Scotland's national team manager Walter Smith diplomatically stated, "It's not the best pitch," but it is believed he told his country's federation representatives that it was the worst he had ever seen. Concerned that the Lithuanians would have to train after the Scots, there were fears the pitch would turn into a quagmire, with Hutchings stating that LFF could face penalties from fines to point deductions, but assured that the match would go ahead.
LFF President Liutauras Varanavičius blamed the poor pitch condition on its overuse, harsh winter, and promised that the pitch would be resurfaced overnight: "Stadiums are a problem in Lithuania because we don't have heating and spring was late. On April 1st, the pitch was still frozen. This stadium is used by two clubs, so many matches are played. It's a city stadium, and the federation can't do anything. It was promised to fix the drainage system, but it didn't happen, and the pitch is in poor condition due to six days of rain. But overnight work will be done, the pitch will be resurfaced, and it will be of good quality tomorrow (tonight at the time of the article)."
Despite the justifications for the situation, Scotland's assistant coach Tommy Burns didn't seek excuses: "It's not a pitch you associate with high-level competition. The most important thing is for the players not to think about it, they just have to go and play. Recently the pitch has been highly used, someone was training before and after us. If they manage to level it and cut the grass, I think it would be a good move."
In addition to the pitch issues, W. Smith also praised the Lithuanians: "Lithuania's draw against Italy showed people what a good team they have. In Scotland, we often underestimate many of the newer countries. Standards are rising, and Lithuania's result against Italy is such that any country in the world would be proud of it. If we improved, then so did Lithuania - they now have players from Italy, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, and Scotland. Our chance to continue competing is by achieving stability. Then good results will come, but that doesn't mean winning here would be the end."
