Euro Qualifier - Scotland v Lithuania - 8th Sept 07

[LAF]

Euro 2008 Qualifying Round - Group B
Scotland (5-0-2, 15 pts, 3rd place) v Lithuania (2-1-4) 7 pts, 5th)
Saturday, September 8, 2007, kick-off 1500 (BST)
Hampden Park, Glasgow



McLeish's Men March On

The change of manager at Scotland's helm has been seamless with Alex McLeish effortlessly picking up from where Walter Smith left off in January. Having played three qualifying fixtures since taking over, McLeish's men have continued their excellent work in this campaign - and enormous credit must go to the previous management regime of Smith, Ally McCoist and Tommy Burns - and kept the Dark Blues in the hunt for an unlikely qualifying position.

While nothing will be firmly decided over the next two round of fixtures, there will no doubt be a far clearer picture of the situation once next Wednesday's matches are done and dusted. However, in the meantime Scotland will be aiming for another big Hampden performance in what is a must-win game. There will come a point when the Scots need to take some points from France or Italy, however, failure to beat the lesser lights in the group will render any qualification hopes pointless.

This will be Scotland's first match at Hampden since McLeish's first match in charge back in March when Craig Beattie's last-minute goal gave Big Eck a winning start with a 2-1 win over Georgia.

State Of Play

With five games to go, Scotland lie in third place just a point behind Italy and three behind leaders France. The top two play each other on Saturday in Milan giving the Scots a chance to claw both teams back and possibly overtake world champions Italy into second place before facing the French next week.

Lithuania have two wins and a draw from their seven games so far and with an five-point gap between themselves and fourth-placed Ukraine, their aim must surely be to consolidate their current fifth spot. They take on the Faroe Islands – still without a point – next Wednesday.

Past Meetings

Having met earlier in the campaign, the two teams should be well-accustomed to each other. In September last year, Scotland came away from Kaunas with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Christian Dailly to Kenny Miller.

Prior to that, the teams had met four times, all of them coming in European Championship qualifiers with Scotland winning two of them (both coming at Hampden). The other two meetings ended in a goalless draw (September 1998) and a 1-0 win to Lithuania (April 2003).

TEAM NEWS

Scotland

Scotland are without suspended captain Barry Ferguson and the armband is likely to go to Davie Weir at centre-back. Ferguson, though, will return to face France in Paris next Wednesday. Striker Kenny Miller is missing with a hamstring injury along with Russell Anderson and Gary Naysmith. Derby County defender Jay McEveley will be handed Naysmith’s place at left-back.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Sunderland), David Marshall (Norwich City), Allan McGregor (Rangers)

Defenders: Graham Alexander (Preston North End), Gary Caldwell (Celtic), Alan Hutton (Rangers), Jay McEveley (Derby County), Stephen McManus (Celtic), David Weir (Rangers)

Midfielders: Scott Brown (Celtic), Barry Ferguson (Rangers) - suspended, Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Paul Hartley (Celtic), Lee McCulloch (Rangers), Stephen Pearson (Derby County), Barry Robson (Dundee United), Gary Teale (Derby County)

Forwards: Craig Beattie (West Bromwich Albion), Kris Boyd (Rangers), James McFadden (Everton), Shaun Maloney (Aston Villa), Garry O’Connor (Birmingham City)

Lithuania

Edgaras Jankauskas and Tomas Zvirgzdauskas both return to the fold after missing out last month’s friendly win over Turkmenistan. Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas is a surprise exclusion from the squad having performed consistently well in a struggling Hearts side in Scotland.

Squad:

Goalkeepers:Žydrunas Karcemarskas (Dinamo Moscow, Russia) Paulius Grybauskas (Otelul Galati, Romania) Saulius Klevinskas (FK Suduva, Lithuania)

Defenders: Andrius Skerla (FK Vetra, Latvia) Vidas Alunderis (Zaglebie Lubin, Poland) Marius Stankevicius (Brescia Calcio, Italy) Irmantas Zelmikas (Tavria Simferopol, Ukraine) Gediminas Paulauskas (FK Ekranas, Latvia) Arunas Klimavicius (Dinamo Moscow, Russia) Tomas Žvirgždauskas (Halmstads BK, Sweden)

Midfielders: Saulius Mikoliunas (Heart of Midlothian) Mindaugas Kalonas (Kuban Krasnodar, Russia) Deivydas Šemberas (CSKA Moscow, Russia) Igoris Morinas (Žalgiris Vilnius, Latvia) Kestutis Ivaškevicius (Heart of Midlothian) Aurimas Kucys (Daugava, Latvia) Deividas Cesnauskis (Heart of Midlothian) Audrius Kšanavicius (Heart of Midlothian)

Forwards: Tomas Radzinevicius (Dynamo Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic) Robertas Poškus (Rostov, Russia) Tomas Danilevicius (Bologna, Italy) Andrius Velicka (Heart of Midlothian) Edgaras Jankauskas (AEK Larnaca, Cyprus) Ricardas Beniušis (Heart of Midlothian)

PREDICTION

Scotland’s momentum in Group B and the chance to split France and Italy at the top of the section should be enough for the players to secure another vital three points.

Scotland 1 Lithuania 0

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - Euro Qualifying Preview: Scotland-Lithuania

[The Blue Flag]

Referees named for Scotland matches

UEFA have appointed referees from Slovenia and Austria for Scotland's two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Lithuania and France.

Against Lithuania on 8 September, the man in the middle will be younger than some of the players. Slovenian Damir Skomina is just 31 years old, but is highly regarded and took charge of this summer's UEFA Under 21 Championship Final in the Netherlands.

For the match in Paris four days later, the referee will be Austria's Konrad Plautz.

[kenny hoggan]

What the fuk is Maloney and Teale doing in that team, Maloneys played 20 mins of football in the past year and Teales just shite, dont see why Eck cant bring in some young talent, you never know, now Naisys moved on to Rangers he'll get a regular game for Scotland

[LAF]

We'll probably play:

Gordon
Alexander - Weir - McManus - McEveley
Hartley -- Brown -- Fletcher -- McCulloch
O'Connor - Boyd

I would like McFadden to feature though.

[LAF]

Scotland boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that Manchester United's Darren Fletcher will retain the captaincy ahead of Saturday's match against Lithuania at Hampden.

Barry Ferguson of Rangers normally leads the side but, with the ex-Blackburn man suspended, Fletcher will serve as the next best thing as McLeish seeks continuity.

"Darren will stay as captain just to keep the momentum," said McLeish.

"Davie Weir is another choice, and of course [so is] 'keeper Craig Gordon, but we just felt staying with Darren would be the sensible thing."

There is a Lithuanian connection in Scotland, with Edinburgh club Heart of Midlothian being owned by controversial Lithuanian businessman Vladimiar Romanov.

He and his staff have imported numerous players from the Baltic state, and McLeish will draw on some local knowledge ahead of this tie.

"[Heart of Midlothian goalkeeping coach] Jim Stewart is part of [the Scotland national team] setup, so he knows a little bit about the players at Hearts.

"It is only natural that, with him being involved, he should let me know anything I need to know.

"But I feel it would be unfair on [Hearts assistant boss] Stephen Frail to ask him about the Lithuanian players."

Fletcher, 23, won his first Scotland cap in 2003 during a 0-0 friendly with Norway. He's now played 30 times for the national side, scoring four goals.

He broke into the Manchester United first team in 2001 and has since appeared over 100 times for the Red Devils.

Curiously, he is also the second-youngest Scotland captain of all time, a John Lambie of Queen's Park donning the armband back in 1886 at the age of just 17.

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - Fletcher To Captain Scotland, Again

[LAF]

Not long now boys.

It really is a must win. I'm not majorly confident (which is usually a good sign).

I really wish I got a ticket now .

[LAF]

Scotland 3-1 Lithuania

Scotland remain in contention for a place at Euro 2008 following second half goals from Stephen McManus and James McFadden at Hampden.

A glancing header from Kris Boyd gave the Scots a half time lead.

But Lithuania hit back when Tomas Danilevicus converted a penalty won by a dive from Hearts' Saulius Mikoliunas.

McManus got on the end of a Shaun Maloney delivery to finish from close range and McFadden smashed in a terrific strike from distance.

Scotland pressed right from the first whistle, with centre forward Garry O'Connor using his powerful presence to unsettle the opposing defence.

Gary Teale, a surprise starter wide on the right, saw a lot of the ball in the early stages but failed to provide any meaningful ammunition for his team-mates.

There was a brief halt to the singing from the noisy Tartan Army when a 20 yard shot from Mindaugas Kalonas flashed just off target after a rare Lithuanian attack.

Scotland should have opened the scoring on 19 minutes when Fletcher's corner was headed on strongly by O'Connor and flicked on target by Boyd.

Goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas clawed the ball away from under his crossbar and it fell straight to Lee McCulloch inside the six yard box.

But the Rangers midfielder lacked composure and could only manage a weak header, allowing Karcemarskas to push the ball away.

A scrappy 10 minutes followed, punctuated by some theatrics from the visitors and bewildering decisions from referee Damir Skomina.

However, Scotland made the breakthrough on 31 minutes thanks to some smart thinking from Fletcher and Boyd.

The Manchester United midfielder caught the Lithuanians out with a quick free kick and Boyd stooped to glance a header home from 10 yards out.

The Scots were given a lift from the goal and a surging run from Scott Brown was brought to a crude end by an ugly tackle and Karcemarskas had to get down smartly to keep out Boyd's scuffed volley. Lithuania made a bright start to the second half, with substitute Mikoliunas making life difficult for right-back Alan Hutton.

Scotland struggled to find any passing fluency and were punished when the atrocious Skomina was duped by an elaborate dive from the Hearts midfielder.

Mikoliunas flung himself to the ground as Fletcher stuck out a leg and Danilevicus got away with sticking the penalty kick straight down the middle. With 20 minutes remaining, McManus steered a Fletcher free kick towards the bottom corner but Karcemarskas made an excellent save at full-stretch.

The Celtic defender made an important contribution at the other end minutes later, blocking a shot from Kalonas right in front of goal.

And he was at the centre of the action yet again to fire Scotland back in front on 77 minutes.

Substitute Shaun Maloney curled in a delicious cross with his first touch of the ball and McManus crashed in at the back post to knock it high into the net with his knee.

Not to be outdone, fellow replacement McFadden improved on Maloney's contribution when he crashed in a wonderful strike from 20 yards.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scotland: Gordon, Hutton, Weir, McManus, McEveley, Teale, Brown, Fletcher, McCulloch, Boyd, O'Connor. Subs: McGregor, Alexander, McFadden, Beattie, Maloney, Caldwell, Hartley.

Lithuania: Karcemarskas, Stankevicius, Skerla, Zvirgzdauskas, Klimavacius, Semberas, Kalonas, Cesnauskis, Morinas, Danilevicius, Velicka. Subs: Grybauskas, Beniusis, Mikoliunas, Paulauskas, Jankauskas, Zelmikas, Ksanavicius.

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | Scotland 3-1 Lithuania

Ya bastard!!! Great game as the boys come back to win. The last two goals were belters.

Also the players were great.

Oh and it was never a pen. Miki Pires'd over Fletcher' leg when he clearly made no impact.

[BIGGY]

^^couldnt have said it better, just watched it down the pub there and we deserved the points + thank fuck we got the win

lol that penalty cost me £60 fine from the police for digging walls and disturbing the peace or some crap not proud oh it tho

great game tho glad we won

[LAF]

Hehe £60. Cheaper getting a ticket to the game, lol.

2/3 years ago we would have drew that game.