T. Ražanauskas - about the performance in Estonia and the favorites of the European Championship

2024-06-16 20:30 © lff.lt

The Lithuanian U21 men's national team finished their performance in the four-team Baltic Cup tournament held in Estonia over the weekend.

In the semi-final match, Lithuanians lost to Latvian footballers after a penalty shootout (1:1 in regular time), and in the match for third place on Sunday, they lost 0:2 to counterparts from Finland, ultimately finishing in fourth place.

After summarizing the team's performance at the tournament, head coach Tomas Ražanauskas said that it was a good test of strength before the upcoming matches in the fall.

"Any tournament is a good opportunity to test our strength, as we prepare for the matches in the autumn with the Czech Republic. It was a good test. It's a pity that we didn't play for first place against the Finns, but playing against this team was interesting because we play more often against Estonians and Latvians," said the coach.

Before the tournament, there were some changes in the team due to injuries or other health issues. Džiugas Aleksa, Žygimantas Baltrūnas, and Gabrielius Micevičius were unavailable, and they were replaced by Marius Skirmantas, Denis Ževžikovas, and Gabriel Nikonov.

"We had plans to invite younger players, but they had exams. We wanted to look at players born in 2005 who could potentially join the national team," the coach explained.

In the semi-final, the outcome was decided in a penalty shootout. According to T. Ražanauskas, the team was prepared for such a situation, but preparation and actual matches are different situations.

"The day before the match, we trained, we practiced, but training is one thing, and the match is entirely different. We practiced, we knew that such a scenario was possible, but it all comes down to psychology. We started first, missed, and then lost," shared the coach.

In the match for third place, a penalty that caused a lot of emotions was awarded to the Lithuanian team. Speaking about that episode, the national team coach said that a particular period in the second match determined the outcome.

"In the match against Finland, we also controlled the ball well, played it from our goal, but again lacked sharpness in front, speed, and strength in finishing. We made almost no changes in the lineup, maybe that played a role, but the main thing is that for the first hour, the performance was not bad. However, Matijus Remeikis's red card changed everything, and a few minutes later, we conceded a penalty," reflected T. Ražanauskas.

Mentioned player M. Remeikis will soon start his professional career and join the Bulgarian team "Botev" Plovdiv.

"He must prepare for the fact that it won't be easy, that he will have to fight for his place in every training session, as he goes to Bulgaria, where strong legionnaires play. First of all, he has to be better than local players, as we saw that Faustus Steponavičius doesn't always make it into the starting lineup. Serious work awaits him; he needs to be mentally prepared. Choosing the path of a legionnaire will never be easy," said the former Lithuanian national team footballer.

The national team will return to action in September, continuing their campaign in the European Championship qualifiers.

"We will see how the situation develops. We will look at positions where we lack something and see whom we can invite from younger players. The remaining matches can give us a good opportunity to gain valuable experience, which our youth is somewhat lacking, as there should be more such matches at the international level," shared T. Ražanauskas.

The coach also talked about the favorites of the European Championship currently taking place in Germany.

"This time I chose Germany, although I am not their biggest fan. Earlier, I supported France more, but this year the championship is taking place in their home, there may be some pressure from fans, everyone is looking forward to it, but they have a good squad, with quite interesting players," said the coach.