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The Lithuanian national team will start the second part of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers on Saturday. In the first match, just like in the qualifying tournament against Italy last September, the opponents will be the finalists of last summer's World Championship - this time the Lithuanians will have to test their strength against the planet's vice-champion France.
Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium Referee - Howard Webb (England) Lithuania - France (Kick-off at 19:00)
Last September and October, Lithuania played three qualifying matches: a historic draw with World champions Italy in Naples, a loss to Scotland in Kaunas, and a late win against the Faroe Islands national team. This start was evaluated ambiguously - despite winning four points and displaying good football, the efforts of the national team were overshadowed by unsuccessful matches against the Scots. The French national team faced similar challenges, having defeated the Faroe Islands and Georgia, but unexpectedly lost to Scotland.
This will be Lithuania's first-ever match against the French, including both official matches and friendly games. However, the world runners-up have visited our country not for the first or second time - in April 1995, the Lithuanians lost 0-1 to Italy in a crowded "Žalgiris" stadium in Vilnius, and in 2002, the newly crowned world vice-champions Germans arrived in Kaunas and defeated Lithuania after a precise long-range shot from Michael Ballack and an own goal from Marius Stankevičius.
During that match with the Germans at the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, five current national team players were present - M. Stankevičius, Deividas Šemberas, Edgaras Jankauskas, Igoris Morinas, Robertas Poškus, while a few others were among the substitutes.
Expecting a similar attention approaching the match with one of the world's football giants, Lithuania had to wait five years after not being particularly successful against Spain's stars during their visit to Vilnius in October 2004. It is anticipated that all 10,000 tickets will be sold, just like in the match against the Germans when the S. Darius and S. Girėnas sports center was packed. So it is hoped that the Lithuanian national team, unlike the match against Scotland when the guests overshadowed the hosts even during the national anthem, will feel at home. The rest will depend on the teams themselves, as they faced similar problems while preparing for this match.
In a friendly match in February, the Lithuanian national team, despite fielding an experimental but quite capable lineup, faced the national team of Mali in Paris and received a lot of criticism after a 1-3 defeat. National team head coach Algimantas Liubinskas, who had to watch the match in Lithuania due to a foot operation, played down the failure, stating that many of the national team players were in poor form for objective reasons at that time. He also indicated that the chosen tactics and lineup were more experimental with the aim of not revealing all the "trump cards" to future opponents like the French and Ukrainians.
Another problem was injuries to footballers. Lithuania's national team will definitely be without key players like Nerijus Barasa and Deividas Česnauskis, while Edgaras Česnauskis, who missed a year of international football due to disagreements with A. Liubinskas, was also motivated by his injury to stay out of the team. There are also doubts about whether the "Hearts" quartet will be able to play: Marius Žaliūkas, Saulius Mikoliūnas, Edgaras Jankauskas, and Andrius Velička. Additionally, with football seasons starting in Eastern Europe, fitness issues have also remained, causing uncertainty in almost every position of the Lithuanian national team, especially in the previously stable defense and attack.
Meanwhile, the French national team suffered a defeat to Argentina at home and, after losing two of their last four matches, faced criticism for the first time since the tragic 2002 World Cup, forcing "Les Bleus" coach Raymond Domenech to withstand criticism. Due to injuries and an aging squad, the French arrived in Lithuania with a considerably rejuvenated lineup. At first glance, the French losses are impressive - key players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, World Cup star Franck Ribery, strikers Louis Saha, David Trezeguet, defender Mikael Silvestre will not be able to help the team.
In their place, R. Domenech called up young talents such as Abou Diaby and Lassana Diarra, the "new Zidane" Samir Nasri, "Lyon" talent Karim Benzema, as well as players from the French championship who have little or no experience in the national team, such as Francois Clerc, Jeremy Toulalan, Rio Mavuba, Frederic Piquionne, and successful foreign players like Philippe Mexes and Julien Escude.
In a press conference last week, Lithuanian national team coach Algimantas Liubinskas said that the absence of leaders among the French will not have a significant impact, and also said that Lithuania still has opportunities in such a match: "You saw the opponents - there is not a single player from a third-class European club. The attack in French jerseys used to be centered around Thierry Henry, with Franck Ribery switching wings, but they will have others replacing them, and they will have the opportunity to shine. Of course, we play them just once, not throughout the tournament, in which, probably, we wouldn't be able to compete. These are single matches - like cup finals. In our case, mastery does not always determine victory."
The coach also assured that the Lithuanian national team does not intend to enter the field just to avoid defeat: "The tactics will not be passive. We do not want to play just defensively, releasing 9 defenders and one forward. We will try to play actively, counterattack as much as the opponent allows, and not expect to defend for the full 90 minutes. The game will be somewhat closed because first of all, we need to protect our goal, and then try to score ourselves. The weather conditions will also have a significant impact. If the pitch is good, we will play one way, if the pitch condition is worse - we will play differently. I think the pitch conditions will be similar to the match against Scotland, but I believe that this is not really beneficial for us - we also want to play on a high-quality pitch."
Meanwhile, the French national team's coach stated in a press conference on the eve of the match that the game is crucial for his team and compared it to a final: "These matches are like a final for us. Since we lost one match, we cannot afford to make more mistakes, especially since we are playing in a tournament where only the two strongest teams reach the final stage (Euro-2008). Making one mistake, we cannot afford to make the same mistake again. So, the situation is almost like a final, though it's not yet the end."
"We saw the Lithuanian national team playing in Italy, and they played a draw not by accident. They have a good team, players in good clubs, and we need to prepare seriously for the battle. The match is dangerous, of a tough nature, we face a tough opponent, and it is also a difficult time for us. We need to achieve a result that would improve our position in the tournament standings. This week we watched video recordings of the Lithuanian national team's matches and tried to make sure the players are as prepared as possible for the match and forget their performances for clubs in the European Cup competitions," said R. Domenech.
French defender Lilian Thuram stated that it would be a big mistake not to assess the Lithuanian national team properly: "Such an attitude would be very dangerous. We can lose these matches. We saw the match against Mali. Those matches do not mean anything; you were missing a lot of players. On the other hand, our match against Scotland was good, and we created many opportunities, but we lost. Yes, maybe we were too relaxed, perhaps our approach was wrong. But we are preparing seriously for the match against Lithuania. We may face an unusual small stadium, but we came here to fight and are ready to adapt to everything."
It is particularly difficult to predict the lineups that will emerge on the S. Darius and S. Girėnas field on Saturday evening. In the Lithuanian national team, only the main goalkeeper Žydrūnas Karčemarskas and team captain Tomas Danilevičius can be considered secure in the starting eleven, while many others had to prove their worth in team training sessions. Nevertheless, it is hard to expect that in the defense line-up such players with little playing experience in the national team like Arūnas Klimavičius, Irmantas Zelmikas, or Vidas Alunderis will be thrown into such a battle, so the starting lineup should once again include Andrius Skerla, Tomas Žvirgždauskas, and Marius Stankevičius, while the left-back position will probably be filled by Rolandas Džiaukštas or Gediminas Paulauskas.
One of A. Liubinskas' biggest problems is the lack of left-backs. Without the Česnauskas brothers and with injuries plaguing S. Mikoliūnas, there are hardly any real alternatives, so he will most likely have to adjust the tactical scheme and focus more on using the services of full-backs in attacks by concentrating more on center-backs in the midfield. The role of the defensive midfielder should be played by Deividas Šemberas, with Darius Miceika or Irmantas Zelmikas, or when attacking, the important role could be given to Mantas Savėnas or Mindaugas Kalonas. In playing with two forwards, Tom Danilevičius may need to drop back a bit more, but there remains a big question of who will be the attacking spearhead. With A. Velička and E. Jankauskas nursing injuries, the opportunity may be given to Robertas Poškus, who showed promise during the preparation camp.
In the French ranks, the goal will be guarded by Gregory Coupet and the captain's armband will be taken over by L. Thuram, who will reprise the center-back duo that missed the match against Argentina with William Gallas, full-backs Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol will play on the flanks. In the center of the field, Claude Makelele will surely play, with his partner potentially being the more defensive J. Toulalan and more attacking S. Nasri, on the flanks will be Sylvain Wiltord and Florent Malouda, and in the attack alongside Nicolas Anelka, young K. Benzema or Djibril Cissé may play.
Predicted starting lineups:
Lithuania (4-4-2): Karčemarskas; Džiaukštas, Skerla, Žvirgždauskas, Stankevičius; Šemberas, Miceika, Savėnas, Kalonas; Danilevičius; Poškus
France (4-4-2): Coupet; Abidal, Gallas, Thuram, Sagnol; Malouda, Makelele, Nasri, Wiltord; Benzema, Anelka
