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On Wednesday, in the UEFA Nations League C League Group 4 match in Vilnius, the Lithuanians stood out scoreless with Albania, considered the favorite before the tournament.
Guests were superior in all components of the statistics: shots (15 and 7, respectively, to goal area 4 and 1), angles (5 and 2), ball control (59% and 41%), passing accuracy (81% and 70%).
However, the naked numbers do not mean that the Lithuanians are shining in the LFF stadium. Confident of their advantage, the FC players relaxed and focused more on defending the advantage than increasing it.
In the first half, the closest goal came from Albanian defender Taulantas Seferi, whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Tomas Švedkauskas.
Arvydas Novikovas, who burst into the opponents’ penalty area after the break, had another attempt and Etritas Berisha left the goal in time.
Lorencas Trashi was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the goalkeeper.
“We won a point where we put a lot of heart, a lot of physical strength. Everything could have changed differently, there were moments at both doors. But I felt like not giving up in the desperate fight, for which I have to thank the team ”, commented V. Urbonas.
It was in the first meeting between the teams on the field, which was unexpectedly won 1: 0, that the Lithuanians ended the nearly four-year series without victories in official competition. And another began.
Last week, they beat Estonia 3: 1 in a control match and drew 2: 2 with Belarus in the Nations League.
V. Urbonas made no secret that the friendly matches in Tallinn were equally important to him in repairing the reputation of the team, which had been robbed by constant failures.
“It is hard enough to endure three games in a row, when everyone is in a position of responsibility. Even in the game against the Estonians, we are not forgiving: today’s situation is cornering us. Public opinion is important, a good game must be demonstrated in all the time. All these games were focused on the result. We are happy to have achieved a positive one, “said the 52-year-old specialist.
V. Urbonas also pointed out that compared to his debut match as head of the national team in Luxembourg last year, only two footballers were left at Wednesday’s start: Saulius Mikoliūnas and A. Novikovas.
“The change is quite significant due to several factors. It should be understood that it takes time to highlight the core of a team. And we need additional human resources.
Most want to have a larger selection of players in the defense chain. To this we must pay special attention when preparing the shift, because the central positions are the pillars, a lot depends on them ”, reasoned the technician.
Lithuania v Albania 0-0. Albanians queuing socially estranged for their national anthem is one of the most useless things I’ve seen in a long time. Almost as useless as international matches during this time. ⚽️🇱🇹 pic.twitter.com/8c2SpythTa
– rwilkowski1 (@ rwilkowski1) October 14, 2020
At that time, his direct opponent Edoardo Reja, whose students still failed to unlock the Lithuanian goal 180 minutes into the game, shook hands.
“During both games we created 8 or 9 chances, but we couldn’t achieve them in any way. Today we were closer to victory than in Tirana, we were able to in the first 20 or 30 minutes.” Close “coincidences. But something was missing”, lamented the Italian, outraged by not conceding in the first half, in his opinion, an obvious 11m penalty by the hand of the home team in their penalty area.
We remind you that at the beginning of the League of Nations in September, V. Urbonas students went home to Kazakhstan 0: 2.
The group stage of the UEFA League will end next month. November 15 The Lithuanian team will visit Belarus, and on the 18th – Kazakhstan.
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