In the first clash for a ticket to the 2025 World Championship, the Lithuanians were breathing down the backs of the favorites in the first half (11:13), but after the break, the difference in skills between the teams began to emerge.
“Hungarians play in such clubs that their physical fitness is at a high level. We lacked strength and skill a bit.
With such a composition and knowing the capacity of the opponents, the most important thing for me is how the men behaved on the field. And I am very satisfied with the fight they showed – unlike last time. Yes, we ran out, we let go, but this is our reality today. We saw yesterday’s result between Iceland and Estonia – 50:25. I think we still performed very honorably”, compared Gintaras Savukynas, the captain of the national team.
The Lithuanians crossed paths with the same Hungarians in the previous selection cycle as well, when two matches were lost with a total ratio of 54:82.
At this year’s European Championship, the Hungarian team took fifth place, and later won a ticket to the Paris Games in the Olympic qualifying tournament after a 12-year break.
As if the upsurge experienced by the opponents was not enough, the Lithuanians played without injured leaders Jonas Truchanovičius and captain Gerdas Babarskas.
Karolis Antanavičius took more initiative in such circumstances, who together with Mindaugs Dumčius played the most productive team (6 goals each) and was chosen as the best in the ranks of Lithuania.
“Hungary is a much stronger team than us,” K. Antanavičius admitted. – We fought, but it was not enough – both in defense and in attack. The score reflects the game. And whether it is satisfactory, it is difficult to say, we still lost by a significant margin. Maybe we could have done a little better, but we gave it our all.”
“The result is not satisfactory, but the game is.” Some such conclusions were made. In the previous confrontations with the Hungarians, the picture was much more terrible, and today the fight was on, but not until the end. It’s difficult to play point-to-point with such a team, their bench is much longer”, – assessed the most seen national team player, 38-year-old offensive player Aiden Malašinskas, who added 5 goals.
According to G. Savukynas, the team’s actions showed both positive and negative trends.
“Some ideas in the attack were successful, the men showed their receptivity in a short time, digested the information. But at one point we lost a little in the middle of the defense, we were “shot” through there. There were misunderstandings – it will be necessary to analyze who should move where, if necessary, and commit a foul,” commented the specialist.
The return match will be played in Vesprem on Sunday.
“Anyway, I’m an optimist, but in this situation – more of a realist,” G. Savukynas described the chances with a smile.
“We are athletes, we have character – we will go to fight, to show ourselves. But it will be much more difficult there. I would be very positive if I said that we will eliminate such a difference”, – K. Antanavičius does not dream about rematch either.
“Right now, our only mission is to fight, to show that we are united and that we have character. We understand that overcoming the Hungarians is an almost impossible task, but we are definitely not going to give up. This experience will help us prepare for further matches, selection for the European Championship, the draw of which was very favorable for us”, concluded A. Malašinskas.
In the first round of selection last March, the Lithuanians eliminated the Finns only after a series of penalties.
The 2025 World Cup will be held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.
The only time Lithuanians played in the World Championship was in 1997, when they took 10th place among 24 teams in Japan.
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