NEWS
Lithuania - September 13, 2021 11:00Zagurskas: Lithuania showed we can competeFIFA.com reportPhoto and report courtesy: FIFA.com


13 Sept 2021

- Lithuania captain says his team exceeded expectations
- Hosting Futsal World Cup "put Lithuania on the map"
- FIFA Secretary General in attendance at opening matches

Relief, tension, joy, disappointment, pride – it was certainly a roller coaster of emotions for Lithuanians on a first matchday of this FIFA Futsal World Cup™. It was, indeed, a day of firsts for the country: its first day hosting a FIFA tournament and seeing one of its senior sides play in any major competition.

The hosts didn't have a dream start, though, losing 2-1 to Venezuela. For a moment after the final whistle went, the arena in Kaunas went silent, with Lithuanian players distraught. But soon after applause began and quickly grew louder and louder, with the players also returning back the same.


World Cup dream

Fittingly, captain Justinas Zagurskas scored Lithuania‘s first-ever goal in the Futsal World Cup, but preferred to focus on the end result: "It was only great for a moment, but not worth much after 40 minutes."

He acknowledged, however, that the debut was one to remember.

"We were waiting for this match for a very very long time," Zagurskas said. "Whether you are a football or futsal player, your dream is to play in the World Cup. This dream came true today, even though we would have loved to get a result."

Asked about any positives, the Lithuania captain pointed out the team exceeded expectations: "Everyone wrote us off before this tournament, as if we‘d be a cannon fodder. But we showed we can compete. We just made one mistake more than Venezuela and they won."

Both Zagurskas and Lithuania coach Yevgen Ryvkin said lack of experience of such high-level matches played a part.

"Our players are at semi-professional clubs and they do not have a lot of strong opponents throughout the year," said Ryvkin. "But I believe in these guys, they grew a lot in a short time. I think they still have not reached their full potential."

Lithuania boast one of the youngest sides in the tournament, with 23-year-old Albert Voskunovic featuring prominently in the first match. In a scene of heartbreak, he was nearly in tears walking off the pitch after the game, but was consoled by other players, especially the team's only real veteran:, 36-year-old Arsenij Buinickij.

"I was really sad," Voskunovic told FIFA.com. "But [Buinickij] is an experienced player; he came to me and calmed me down. We gave our all and played really well, but it was not enough and it‘s very disappointing."

For Voskunovic, the COVID-19 pandemic nearly crushed his dreams. As the tournament was postponed, he suffered a long-term injury last year and had to start from scratch to get back to fitness again. Merely appearing in the World Cup, therefore, represented a personal victory.

"I suffered one injury, recovered, then got injured again," he explained. "I spent six months on the sidelines, but I managed to return and I think we all prepared very well physically for this tournament.

"I think we showed the world we can play futsal. It‘s just that the opponents have shown a little more quality and experience. We did not have experience of such games with such a crowd. Now we know what that is like."


Relief after kick-off

It was a learning curve and proud moment not for just the players, but for everyone involved: a culmination of hard work for many people. Five years ago, when Lithuania presented a bid for this tournament, few believed it could be possible. But despite various challenges, with the pandemic the most notable, the dream has become a reality.

"It's a feeling of relief and liberation," admitted Lithuanian Football Federation president Tomas Danilevicius as he sat down for a short chat with FIFA.com reflecting on the first matchday. "We were preparing for several years and there were many doubts - we had to postpone the tournament for a year, and there were details to refine until the last minute. But now it feels like a weight has been lifted off our backs."

Danilevicius was delighted to welcome FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, who attended opening day matches in both Vilnius and Kaunas. "We really value the confidence and attention shown by FIFA," he said. "After all, the FIFA Futsal World Cup is watched by almost 200 countries worldwide and millions of people. It’s like Lithuania’s window to the world. A lot of people might find out about this small country and where it is on the map."

Lithuania will be on the map for a while yet. The FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021™ has just kicked off and will be entertaining fans until the final on 3 October.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
KeywordSearch in Title and DescriptionSearchClearPages : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74
International Competitions17th AFC Futsal Asian Cup March 22, 2022 17:57
AustraliaMiles Downie named Futsalroos Head Coach ahead of April's AFF Futsal ChampionshipMarch 20, 2022 11:30
International CompetitionsNSDF Futsal Invitation Championship - Thailand 2022March 13, 2022 20:01
International CompetitionsUEFA Under 19 Futsal EUROMarch 07, 2022 22:59
MyanmarMyanmar national Futsal team plans to play international friendliesFebruary 13, 2022 11:45
International CompetitionsCAFA Under 19 Futsal ChampionshipsFebruary 08, 2022 02:30
International CompetitionsFutsal Love Serbia Winter Cup 2022 February 08, 2022 01:00
KuwaitSuccess against all odds in KuwaitFebruary 05, 2022 13:00
International CompetitionsKarimi stars as IR Iran win CAFA Women’s Futsal ChampionshipJanuary 30, 2022 00:30
International CompetitionsUmag Futsal Nations Cup 2022January 23, 2022 22:00
International CompetitionsFutsal Week March Cup 2022January 23, 2022 15:10
SwedenInternational women's friendlies: Sweden vs UkraineJanuary 23, 2022 00:30
Pages : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74
FOLLOW US
Facebook
FutsalPlanet © 2018