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Lithuanian soccer fans can breathe easier - our national team brings three points from the Faroe Islands. On Saturday in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers, Lithuanians who dominated the entire game defeated the hosts only after the match ended with a goal scored by Andrius Skerla.
In other Group B matches, Scotland sensationally beat world vice-champion France 1-0 at home and secured their third victory to become the group leaders. In the next match, between Italy and Ukraine, the World Champions won 2-0 in Rome.
Torshavn "Torsvollur" Stadium, 2000 spectators Referee - Anthony Buttimer (Ireland) Faroe Islands 0 - 1 Lithuania 89' [0 - 1] Andrius Skerla
Lithuania: Karcemarskas; Stankevicius, Skerla, Zvirgzdauskas, Paulauskas; Cesnauskis, Miceika, Savenas (45' Kalonas), Mikoliunas (62' Kavaliauskas); Danilevicius, Poskus (70' Beniusis)
Before the match, there were no major surprises, and due to injuries, the main defenders Rolandas Dziaukstas and Aidas Preiksaitis were unable to help the team from the start of the qualifying tournament in the main eleven, and Gediminas Paulauskas and Darius Miceika came onto the field, with Deividas Cesnauskis and Tomas Danilevicius, who had some minor problems, managing to prepare for the match.
The Lithuanian team started the match actively and threatened the opponent's goal with Saulius Mikoliunas, but his first attempt was inaccurate, while Mantas Savenas and Robertas Poskus missed from a distance. Later, Deividas Cesnauskis' shot flew past the goal, S. Mikoliunas missed from close range, and the hosts tried to launch an attack themselves, but Tomas Zvirgzdauskas played reliably in defense against Christian Jacobsen. The first half ended goalless.
This style of play did not satisfy the national team coach Algimantas Liubinskas, and he decided to bring in the technically skilled Mindaugas Kalonas instead of Mantas Savenas. The latter livened up the Lithuanian game, but the result was the same - R. Poskus missed from close range, J. Mikkelsen saved one of T. Danilevicius' shots, while the other was inaccurate. The hosts also had their chances, but C. Jacobsen missed a shot in the 59th minute, and soon in a quick counterattack, Ž. Karcemarskas saved the opponent's striker's shot.
In the second half, A. Liubinskas substituted S. Mikoliunas with Vytaliy Kavaliauskas, and in the 70th minute, R. Poskus was replaced by Richard Beniusis. The end of the match turned into a storming of the Faroe Islands' goal - T. Danilevicius' shot was blocked by the opponent's defender at the last moment, rising a corner kick, the forward headed the ball near the goal but missed, M. Stankevicius' header was saved by Marni Djurhuus on the goal line. In the last five minutes, D. Miceika's header was saved by the goalkeeper, and with a second attempt, T. Danilevicius scored against M. Djurhuus.
However, unlike almost eight years ago in Vilnius when the Lithuanians failed to score, this time the team's efforts bore fruit because in the 89th minute, after M. Kalonas' lifted corner kick, defender Andrius Skerla headed the ball into the goal, marking his first goal in the national team after 50 matches.
Defeated by the conceded goal, the Faroe Islands' footballers no longer had the strength to launch serious counterattacks, and the Lithuanians almost doubled their lead, but M. Kalonas missed twice and once hit the opponent's crossbar. Lithuania won with a score of 1-0 and secured their first three points in this qualifying cycle, continuing their battles with the French and Ukrainian teams next year towards the end of March.
Match statistics
Faroe Islands - Lithuania
6 - Shots - 26 0 - Shots on goal - 8 5 - Shots off target - 16 0 - Blocked shots - 2 11 - Fouls - 12 1 - Corner kicks - 10 41% - Ball possession - 59%
