The coach of the Lithuanian national team, Valdas Urbonas, after the match with Ukraine, said that missed goals were determined by individual mistakes and stated that simply the opponent was stronger. Ukraine's strategist Andriy Shevchenko noted that the Lithuanians are still looking for their optimal lineup.
"We prepared, we expected the opponent to be strong and well-organized. We tried to saturate the middle of the field, close the zones where they are strong. It's a shame that individual mistakes in the middle zone led to goals that we missed. But I want to thank the men for their dedication, their desire to play. I have to admit that the opponent was stronger today," said V. Urbonas.
In the coach's opinion, the changes made in the lineup were not among the essential reasons for today's defeat. "We are at a stage where we have to look and give everyone a chance to play. Those who deserve to step onto the field. After the match, we can talk about one or another problem, but for example, the wing defenders played really well - both M. Vorobjovas and S. Mikoliūnas," said V. Urbonas. "In the second half, the substitutions livened up the game. We could have been more aggressive. But I wouldn't call those changes an experiment or a test. I am satisfied with the game of the players I chose. The opponent simply presented us with more problems today."
The coach said that young players like P. Golubickas, D. Šimkus, and G. Matulevičius deserved their place on the team. "I don't think they lacked experience. Maybe the positions weren't very familiar to them, but for example, G. Matulevičius plays where he plays for Sūduva. Perhaps only P. Golubickas' position wasn't where he could play. But he coped well with his tasks. I wanted to have such a creative player. He was good at attacking, just lacked a bit of strength. D. Šimkus played in the holding midfielder position. I think he did everything that was expected of him," said V. Urbonas.
Speaking about the change of goalkeepers, the coach emphasized that we have several equivalent goalkeepers: "We have E. Šetkus, E. Zubas, V. Černiauskas, D. Bartkus. I wouldn't want to highlight anyone. Ernestas didn't play, but that shouldn't lead to any deep conclusions."
V. Urbonas did not ignore the fact that a large part of the spectators at the stadium were fans from Ukraine. "We should be happy that the stadium was full. Of course, it was surprising that there were so many Ukrainian fans. I don't think it affected the overall atmosphere. I think it was a celebration, an event."
The strategist of the Ukrainian national team, Andriy Shevchenko, thanked the numerous fans of his team who gathered at the LFF stadium, and when asked about the Lithuanian team, he did not have a definitive answer.
"It's clear that the Lithuanian team is still in the process, the coach is still searching, experimenting to find the optimal lineup. This was confirmed by the changes in the team during the match against Serbia. It is still difficult to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Lithuanians. Perhaps we played stronger today than they expected," said A. Shevchenko.
He also did not rush to praise his players. "Are we among the elite teams? It's too early to say. There were good and bad episodes in our game. There were problems adapting to the field, because the surface is specific," said the former famous player.
The Lithuanians will face the European champion Portugal on Tuesday, while the Ukrainians will play friendly matches at home.
