© EuroFootball.com
The first principle neighborhood matches in the Baltic Cup tournament did not go well for our team - the Lithuanian youth team "Vėtros" at the stadium after an 11-meter penalty shootout had to admit the superiority of the Latvian team, which won the cup. Today at 16:30 the national Lithuanian team, playing in Kaunas against the Latvian national team, will try to revenge the failure of the U-21 team.
U-21 Lithuania 1 - 1 Latvia U-21 (after extra time, penalties 4-5) 4' [0 - 1] Olegs Malašenoks 73' [1 - 1] Donatas Navikas
Composition of the Lithuanian U-21 team: Malinauskas, Gaurilovas (45' Navikas), Bagužis (75' Kijanskas), Mikuckis, Skroblas; Lukša, Miceika (45' Tamošauskas), Panka, Kalonas (45' Šidlauskas); Rimkevičius, Kavaliauskas (107' Blažys)
The first dangerous attack was made by the hosts, but Rimkevičius' attempt found the net from the other side, and after one of the first Latvian attacks, the Lithuanians experienced a cold shower - after a shot from the penalty area, the ball bounced off the defender and O. Malašenoks, the first one to reach it, sent it into the corner of the goal from about 10 meters.
Among the Lithuanians was M. Kalonas, who returned to the team, and in the 7th minute after his run on the left side and a dangerous pass to a teammate, it was close to reaching the ball, but four minutes later the Lithuanians tried to attack from further away, however, the defenders managed to direct the ball to a corner, after which they failed to score with a header.
Although the hosts took the initiative after missing an upset goal, later the Latvian guests regained their confidence and leveled the game, but since most of the battle took place in the middle of the field, no more dangerous moments were created during the remaining time of the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, the coach of the Lithuanian youth team, V. Stankevičius, made three substitutions: Šidlauskas, Navikas, and Tamošauskas entered the field, replacing Kalonas, Gaurilovas, and Miceika, bringing life to the Lithuanian game, and as it turned out later, contributing the most to the effort to turn the game in favor of the hosts.
The first opportunity to score came in the 59th minute for V. Kavaliauskas - after a pass from V. Lukša, A. Rimkevičius handed him the ball, but the "Screener" forward was stopped by the Latvian goalkeeper P. Šteinbors from his shot. Shortly after, Kavaliauskas had another chance, but this time his shot was blocked by the defenders. Meanwhile, a few minutes later, T. Tamošauskas shot over the crossbar after a repeated penalty kick.
