© EuroFootball.com
The coach of the Lithuanian national team, Raimondas Žutautas, hopes that the failure against the world champion Spain won't prevent our country's team from breaking through to the final stage of the European Championship for the first time.
"The result is unsatisfactory because we couldn't do what we wanted," the strategist said. "However, the match was of a good level, we fought as best as we could. Although we missed goals, that's football - mistakes are made, goals are missed. I thank the players who didn't spare themselves, even though the pitch was not the best, as the snow had just melted. I thank everyone for filling the stadium. If this continues, I hope we will succeed in taking second place in the group."
Did the Spaniards not show their full strength - did we stop them, or were there other reasons?
"The Spaniards didn't perform at their best - the quality of the pitch was a hindrance, we tried to stop their footballers, perhaps fatigue played a role... Many factors came together. Our men may not have completed all tasks, we could have played more accurately at times, but I believe that before the next match we will review the mistakes made and draw conclusions."
Was there too much focus on attacking after conceding the equalizing goal?
And added: "Scoring is not easy, especially against the Spaniards. We scored a goal not after a quick counterattack, we controlled the ball and scored a beautiful goal. We can play and we know it, the most important thing is to believe in our strengths, and then there will be a result."
Who were the best players from both national teams?
"In the Spanish national team, there is one leader - Xavi, you saw it all. He controls the ball and directs the attacks. From our team, I would single out all players. I don't want to single anyone out because everyone gave 100 percent of their efforts."
"The men played really strongly, but the referee protected the world champions, noting every touch."
About the stadium:
"We hope that politicians saw how we played and will pay attention to football. We want to be able to host any team properly and not embarrass ourselves, have a heated pitch, a national stadium, so we can play in any season."
