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Approaching important matches of the Lithuanian national team with Spain, a press conference took place in Vilnius on Monday, attended by LFF President Liutauras Varanavicius and the national team head coach Algimantas Liubinskas.
According to L. Varanavicius, talking about other topics when the match with the Spaniards is approaching is very difficult - this will be an exceptional meeting, the national team will play in Vilnius again after a long break.
"The men are very serious, we will be able to see it on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the clarified data, the cheapest tickets to the match are no longer available, about 1,500 tickets for 50 litas each remain, the expensive tickets are sold out. In reality, there are only 1,500 tickets left - we hope that they will be sold out as well and the Lithuanian national football team will be supported by a full stands of people. It is evident that Vilnius yearns for football, the match should be beautiful," - said L. Varanavicius.
Returning late Sunday evening from Spain, A. Liubinskas presented the latest and useful information about the upcoming opponents:
"During the match with the Belgians, the Spanish playing tactics changed, and the composition also changed compared to the match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is natural. In the national team, in two consecutive matches, it is not usual for the same players to play - this is due to cards, sportswear, or the coach's dissatisfaction with the players. Whether they will use the same tactics and players in Vilnius - we will see only during the match."
"Result Belgium - Spain 0:2. In the first half, the Belgians managed to stop the Spaniards. The Spaniards played at 70%. of their capability and speed. In the second half, 'other speeds' were activated. The team plays beautiful and technical football - there are no weak spots of strong ones, but looking deeper into the game, you can find gaps. I will present the analysis of the match to our players tomorrow, today they are analyzing the Spaniards in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina," - A. Liubinskas spoke.
The Lithuanian team's strategist also admitted that compared to the previous qualifying matches, the team did not strengthen much:
"We hoped to strengthen our positions in the national team with player selections. However, it turned out the opposite - we do not have D. Semberas, he arrived injured - with torn knee ligaments. Poškus tried to train, he was under the supervision of doctors, after training he got very tired, and we do not want to risk his health. We probably won't have him in the match. Today we have 19 players and 2 goalkeepers. There are problems - we need to reorganize the safe and attacking lines."
"Tomorrow we will clearly outline the game tactics. We are looking for options on how to prepare ourselves against the Spanish team - we cannot say that their team is weak, nor can we predict the outcome of the match in advance. We will definitely fight, there will definitely be a fight, we will definitely not enter the field with the question of how we will lose, our goal - to fight. Our goal - to achieve a positive result. These are not the last matches, but we would like to end this year well, we also want to climb higher on the tournament table. Weather conditions - in Spain it is now around 20 degrees. Our weather conditions will not favor them," - said A. Liubinskas.
The coach's last words were confirmed a little later - the Spanish national team that arrived in Vilnius had to train at the "Žalgiris" sports base (which is in Antakalnis, not at the stadium of the same name), but after seeing its tragic condition, they were horrified and decided to return back to the "Lithuania" hotel.
Meanwhile, today the Lithuanians prepared for the match at the "Vėtra" stadium, and the Spaniards will train there tomorrow morning. Later on the same day, a youth team meeting will take place in Kaunas, and on Wednesday the national teams will meet at the "Žalgiris" stadium.
"Marca" journalist's photos at the "Žalgiris" sports base: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14
