Euro 2012 qualifiers: Spain vs. Lithuania – Full Time Report (Part 2)
On the other hand, Lithuania featured their first team and missed no players at all. Their coach, Raimondas Zutautas played the best team that he had because he knew that this match was one of the most important matches during
the tournament.
Even though he was playing a very strong side, he still wanted them to play a "defensive" role as it was clear that his side was there on the Spanish soil for a draw. The Lithuania coach featured a 4-5-1 formation as only one striker
was utilized throughout the game while they relied completely on counter attacking football while the Spaniards were moving the ball around nicely.
Zydrunas Karcemarskas featured as a goalkeeper for the team and he was helped by Tadas Kijanskas, Marius Stankevicius, Andrius Skerla and Edgaras Cesnauskis at the back.
There were two defensive midfielders as well, to strengthen the "defensive" aspect of the team. These two players were Edgaras Cesnauskis and Deividas Semberas. There was only one central attacking midfielder while two midfielders
featured on the flanks.
The central attacking midfielder was Ramunas Radavicius while Saulius Mikoliunas and Darvydas Sernas featured on the flanks. With these two on the flanks, they helped the sole striker of the team, Tomas Danilevicius to create chances
for goal scoring.
The match started off well for the Spaniards as they dominated the game with their "tiki taka" style of play. Soon during the 18th
minute of the match it was David Silva who managed to find David Villa up front. David Villa tried to score the goal but he only managed to find the cross bar and a great opportunity was wasted by the World Champions.
Despite the fact that the Spaniards were keeping 70% of the possession throughout the game, it was simply hard to go through Lithuania's defence as they were only trying to defend their goal rather than make a move forward for
scoring one. However, their first try did come during the 32nd minute when Danilevicius found the ball right in front of goal and his left footed shot was saved by the number 1 Spaniard, Iker Casillas.
The attack was well responded and in a slow build during the 35thminute, David Silva rushed in from the left flank to shoot the ball into the net. Even though he tried his best to get past Karcemarskas, he only managed
to find the pole and another chance was wasted by the Spaniards.
The first half ended with the Spanish totally dominating their opposition. However, the other side was only busy defending their goal and the Spaniards never found the break through throughout the first half of the game.
The second half started as the visitors kicked off and soon Barcelona won possession in the middle of the pitch and they started to pass the ball around and started to build up the play slowly.
Right after the first two minutes, Sergio Ramos rushed in from the right flank and delivered a wonder ball inside the 18 yard box. The Lithuania goalkeeper was simply out of position and it was the Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando
Llorente who managed to head the ball into the net to make it 1-0 for the Spaniards. The World Champions were leading the game now as the visitors kicked the game off again.
The visitors lost the ball again and the defensive line of the Spaniards moved the ball around while Lithuanians were simply chasing shadows and never got to touch the ball. Soon, during the 54th minute, the Spanish
defenders tumbled and it was Sernas who managed to run forward from a through ball as the midfielder waited for Iker Casillas to move out. With Casillas out, the Lithuania player managed to slot the ball into the bottom corner to bring his team back to level
terms.
Tags: