© EuroFootball.com
Vilnius' "Vėtra" safety on Tuesday suffered a leg injury during the "A League" championship match against Klaipėda's "Atlantas" and will not be able to help the national team in the match against the Faroe Islands in the qualification cycle for the 2008 European Championship.
Eurofootball.com spoke with "Vėtra" press representative Tautvydas Vencevičius, who stated that the footballer injured his leg muscle in the rough match against "Atlantas," and because of that, he will be unable to play at full capacity for about 10 days.
According to T. Vencevičius, in those games, A. Preikšaitis' opponent in the national team who should have received a second yellow card for hitting Aidas in the elbow "worked very hard."
When Eurofootball.com inquired whether that opponent could be the "Atlantas" forward, T. Vencevičius answered affirmatively.
By the way, "Vėtra's" press representative, as well as the national team coach A. Liubinskas, skeptically evaluated the situation where one of the main safeties of the national team plays in the A League championships while the national team is preparing for the qualification matches: "It would be hard to find a similar case in the world. Our A League schedule is illogical."
According to the Lithuanian Football Federation, 36-year-old A. Preikšaitis, who has played 47 matches and scored 3 goals for the national team, will be replaced in the Faroe Islands by 23-year-old Marius Žaliūkas. The latter was already included in the national team application for matches against Italy and Scotland, but has not yet played in the national team.
It is expected that Aidas Preikšaitis will be able to play in friendly national team matches against Kuwait on October 11.
Meanwhile, as reported by the club itself, Vaidas Žutautas, the main goalkeeper who played 23 matches in the league this year, will no longer be able to help the team this season. In the "A League" match against the "Vilnius" club, V. Žutautas suffered an injury – he tore his knee ligament. Rehabilitation after such an injury lasts at least 4 weeks, and the Lithuanian championship ends on November 12.
