Euro 2012 Qualifiers - Match Review: Group I - Lithuania draws 0-0 against Scotland
The Scottish national team began its campaign to qualify for the 2012 European Championships with an away trip to Lithuania. Scotland and Lithuania are part of Group I, which includes the reigning world champions Spain and giants such as the Czech Republic.
The match took place at the Zalgiris Stadium in Lithuania. Led by their captain and Manchester United’s energetic midfielder, Darren Fletcher, Scotland approached the match in an attacking fashion with two strikers up-front complimented by four defenders and four midfielders. Both Scotland and Lithuania missed out on qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, so their task to qualify for the next international footballing tournament, the Euro 2012, gained extra importance.
Scotland started with Steven Naismith and Kenny Miller in attack while Scott Brown, Barry Robson, Lee McCulloch and Darren Fletcher were deployed in midfield by the Scottish manager Craig Levein. In defence for the team, Alan Hutton played as the right-back while Stephen McManus and David Weir played as centre-backs alongside the left-back Steven Whittaker.
Lithuania also played a 4-4-2 formation, but they had less recognizable athletes like Zydrunas Karcemarskas in goal whereas Marius Stankevicius, Andrius Skerla, Ramunas Radavicius and Tadas Kijanskas played in defence for Raimondas Zutautas’ team. Deividas Semberas, Mindaugas Panka, Edgaras Cesnauskis and Saulius Mikoliunas made up the Lithuanian midfield, while Tomas Danilevicius and Darvydas Sernas played as the goal-scoring duo.
Scotland took control of the match right from the kick-off; their captain Fletcher, along with his midfield partners, outperformed the Lithuanian midfield four and thus did not allow their attacks to build up. Lithuania, on the other hand, played a dirty game as they tried to commit petty fouls all over the field to prevent Scotland from breaking into any offensive stride. This actually worked out pretty well in the start, as Scotland were given five free-kicks in the first five minutes of the match. However, these set pieces could not be converted into goals by Fletcher, who was on free-kick duty for his national team.
Ramunas Radavicius, as per his reputation, became the first player to get booked on the night by the referee in the 17th minute of the match; this booking took place as a result of his tackle on Alan Hutton in the Scottish defence. Scott Brown became the first Scottish player to see the yellow card in the first half of the match, this happened just before the half ended in the 41st minute of the match. Despite having more time on the ball, Scotland lacked the ability to create goal-scoring opportunities. Craig’s team was suffering from an apparent absence of a creative midfielder in their midfield, as regardless of the fact that everyone in the Scottish side was working hard, there was no penetration in behind the Lithuanian defence.
The second half started off as a carbon copy of the first one, as Scotland still maintained a larger share of possession without troubling the Lithuanian defence. In the 67th minute of the match, Andrius Skerla was booked by the referee for a foul on the Scottish striker Kenny Miller. A minute after Barry Robson was replaced by James McFadden, Scotland went for the kill with three strikers on the field. Lithuania made their first change in the 69th minute as Robertas Poskus was taken off in place of Saulius Mikoliunas. In the 72nd minute, Lee McCulloch was booked by the referee for a foul on Edgaras Cesnauskis. The follow up free-kick was taken by Ramunas Radavicius but the set piece turned out to be fruitless.
The final score was nil all and both the teams went away with a point each; however, for Scotland it will be a case of a point earned rather than two lost as good teams are always expected to at least get a draw on their travels in qualification battles such as these.
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