© EuroFootball.com
Lithuania's national team head coach Raimondas Žutautas said before the match with Liechtenstein that the team will draw conclusions from previous mistakes, while team captain Tomas Danilevičius noted that they want to redeem themselves in front of their fans. Liechtenstein's national team coach Hans-Peter Zaugg said that his team faces a much tougher test away from home.
Will draw conclusions
"The mindset for the match is very serious. The team understands that they can no longer afford to make mistakes. It's a shame that we lost Andrius Skerla and Marius Stankevičius in defense, but we won't exaggerate it, other players will replace them. It's great that in friendly matches we showed that we can score goals. This gives us more optimism for tomorrow's match," said R. Žutautas.
The coach emphasized that Liechtenstein's team should not be judged solely based on their place in the FIFA rankings and their name: "Based on the game in this cycle, Liechtenstein not only showed us that they are not a bad team. We analyzed our game in the first match, and tomorrow we will review the videos of Liechtenstein and Switzerland's friendly matches. Based on that, we will draw conclusions and make the necessary changes to achieve the desired result."
Important quick goal
According to R. Žutautas, the outcome of the match will depend on Lithuania's offensive game. "The opponent will retreat to their half and play counter-attacking football. It is harder for us to create than to defend, we all know that. But we will do everything we can in attack and try not to allow the opponents to launch quick attacks. Is a quick goal important? Of course, it unsettles any opponent team, and then playing intelligently on the counter-attack can score even more.
Team captain Tomas Danilevičius said that for now, he is not thinking about the upcoming trip to Scotland, but focuses on Friday's game.
"We analyzed the video material and are preparing very seriously. I think that various reasons came together in the match against Liechtenstein - underestimation of the opponent, lack of concentration, players' form at the end of the season. We want to redeem ourselves in front of our fans - those who went to support us in Liechtenstein and those who will be at the stadium - and against ourselves. That loss was a blow to our self-esteem," said the forward.
Expecting different match
Liechtenstein's national team coach Hans-Peter Zaugg said he understands that repeating the same result as at home will be very difficult.
"In the first match against Lithuania in Vaduz, we were lucky to win, but we know and understand that this time it will be a completely different match. Lithuania's national team will assess us much more seriously this time and do everything to prevent a repeat. Therefore, a more difficult task awaits us. In any case, we will try to make things difficult for the Lithuanians. We have to defend well and not concede a quick goal," said the Liechtenstein strategist.
When asked about the strength of Lithuania's national team and players, the Swiss praised the Lithuanian team: "You have very good players. Your capacity was clearly demonstrated in the draws with Scotland and the victory against the Czech Republic. Lithuania was once second in the group after Spain and played really well. That's why our victory was even more valuable. I wouldn't want to single out any Lithuanian, but we will adopt specific tactics against certain players," said H.P. Zaugg.
The Lithuania and Liechtenstein national teams will meet on September 2 at 6 pm at the Kaunas S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center Stadium.
