Lithuania captain Milda Liužinaitė says the national side must set the tone for a new FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying cycle by showing their quality in the opening fixtures.
Tomas Ražanauskas’ team begin the window away to Liechtenstein on Tuesday, before returning home to face Estonia on Saturday 7th of March.
Lithuania have gathered for a training camp this week, with Liužinaitė acknowledging preparation has been complicated by the domestic season not yet being under way. She said the Women’s Winter Cup has helped provide match minutes, but the squad are still building sharpness.
“Everyone has really missed football,” Liužinaitė said. “The conditions are a bit difficult because the season in Lithuania hasn’t started yet. The Winter Cup helped us, because we were already able to play three matches. But in some places we still lack intensity and speed, and our shape is not yet optimal compared with playing during the league season.”
Liechtenstein will be a new opponent for Lithuania, with their women’s national team a relatively recent addition to the international calendar. Liužinaitė warned against underestimating them, pointing to players gaining experience outside the principality.
“It’s a new opponent and we haven’t played them before,” she said. “They’ve only had a women’s national team for a few years, but we can’t expect it to be easy because those players are not playing in Liechtenstein, but in other clubs. We have to play, press and prove we are better.”
Lithuania’s second match of the window, against Estonia, will be played at Raudondvaris Stadium, with Liužinaitė thanking the local authorities for efforts to have the pitch ready after heavy winter conditions.
“We really have to thank Kaunas District Municipality, the mayor and the stadium administration for preparing the pitch for our match, because we’ve had an unusual winter,” she said. “There probably isn’t a stadium that could host us right now, so thanks to Raudondvaris and the community we can fight for victories.”
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Source: https://www.lff.lt/kapitone-pasitinka-nauja-issuki-turime-zaisti-ir-irodyti-kad-esame-geresnes/
