The depleted team prepares for a trip to San Marino

2004-11-12 15:16 © EuroFootball.com

On Friday in the Lithuanian Football Federation, a press conference was held, attended by national team coach Algimantas Liubinskas, who shared his thoughts before the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

Tomorrow (Saturday) in Vilnius, the national team players playing in Lithuania will gather, and the day after they will fly to San Marino, where foreign players playing abroad will join them. The match will take place on Wednesday, November 17th.

National team coach A. Liubinskas reviewed the team's situation and problems, but admitted that the opponent is not of a high level and the team must win.

"Along with the ending year, the end of the first stage of the qualification cycle is approaching. However, we cannot summarize this beginning yet, as we still have tough matches against San Marino, and we have not won them yet. We would like to try to show beautiful football, but of course, the most important thing is victory," the coach said. - "In the team we will not have R. Poškus, who has not recovered from the accident, T. Ražanauskas, who is unable to play due to illness, N. Barasa will miss the match due to cards, A. Skerla suffered a serious back disc injury, M. Samusiovas again refused to represent the national team, and he even avoids answering our calls - we will probably not invite him in the future. Also today is the last round of the Russian championship - we hope the players won't get injured. In short, there are quite a few problems in the team, but at least it is good that we will not have to play against a top-level opponent."

17 national team players should go to San Marino, the 18th will join from the youth team, most likely it will be S. Mikoliūnas.

According to A. Liubinskas, the team will particularly miss R. Poškus, as they will need to attack a lot, and since they will not need to defend as much, A. Skerla should be replaced in the center of defense by T. Žvirgždauskas or D. Žutautas. There is also better news - E. Jankauskas, who will play after recovering from injury.

The team will also have I. Morinas again, although he was without a club for some time this season and did not train, so more is expected from him next year. A. Liubinskas mentioned as a problem that Ž. Karčemarskas and D. Česnauskis lack playing practice - the goalkeeper does not even get to play as a substitute in the team, and the returning right-back mostly misses matches on the bench after recovering from injury.

Asked why the top scorer of the "A Lyga" league P. Lukšys does not play in the national team, the coach replied that there are currently more capable players in the attacking department, but if the Panevėžys player continues to play well and improve, the national team doors may open for him.

According to the head coach, it is necessary to look more to the future, but at the same time trying not to lose points. Therefore, older players with less international match experience are not included in the team.

"We want to bring in youth into the team. A. Kucys's performance at the end of the Lithuanian championship was a bit disappointing, we are interested in M. Panka, D. Miceika. Against San Marino, we will choose a wide combination game, we will try to attack through the wings - these positions will strengthen with the return of D. Šemberas and D. Česnauskis. We would like to score the first goal as soon as possible - then the game will be much easier. By the way, it is important not to receive unnecessary cards, as then the players may need to miss next year's games," A. Liubinskas said.

A. Liubinskas, who works in the Culture, Education and Sports Department of the Vilnius Municipality, also shared his thoughts on the situation of Lithuanian stadiums and where the national team will play. Although there is currently no stadium in the capital that meets international standards, the team prefers to play in Vilnius.

There is a possibility of playing at the "Vėtra" stadium - it is expected to install lighting, additional 2,000 seats, as well as a parking lot. Meanwhile, in December, the reconstruction project of the "Žalgiris" stadium will be presented. A modern stadium, accommodating up to 20,000 people, along with the entire complex, could start to be built in the middle of next year.

Lithuanian national team composition for the match against San Marino

Goalkeepers:

1. Žydrūnas Karčemarskas (Moscow "Dynamo", Russia)

2. Gytis Padimanskas ("Kaunas")

Defenders:

3. Marius Stankevičius ("Brescia", Italy)

4. Rolandas Džiaukštas ("Moscow", Russia)

5. Aurelijus Skarbalius ("Brondby", Denmark)

6. Tomas Žvirgždauskas ("Halmstads", Sweden)

7. Darius Žutautas ("Kaunas")

Midfielders:

8. Edgaras Česnauskis (Kyiv "Dynamo", Ukraine)