Lithuania

6-1

England


Lithuania

4-3

England


Futsal International Friendlies
15 & 16 November 2005
Kaunas, Lithuania

England's trip to Lithuania came to a close on Thursday with a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat against a strong host side.

The Lithuanian team included three players from the Kaunas outfit that played Liverpool in the Champions League qualifying stage earlier this season and on Wednesday were much the better side.

The first match of the double-header ended in a 6-1 defeat where the inexperience of Graeme Dell's team was cruelly punished.

Lithuanian Under-21 International, Arturas Rimrevicius was outstanding and his physical presence constantly unsettled the English defence. Fortunately England's goalkeeper Eric Pudaloff was also in fine form with an array of blocks, stops and fingertip saves.

England's cause was not helped by an escalating foul count, however, Pudaloff then responded by saving three out of four ten-metre penalties. He followed this by saving a penalty from six metre - an exceptional feat in Futsal.

The night begun brightly with the Three Lions taking the lead with a Jimmy Husband goal until two minutes before half-time. But defensive lapses then crept into England's performance and the match ended in disappointment.

Twenty four later, though, the same team put on a vastly improved performance. Many of the debutants in Dell's team began to find their feet in this fast and skilful game.

The encounter started well for England with long periods of possession but the counter-attacking Lithuanians always threatened and scored two quick goals just before half-time.

England started the second-half desperate to get back on equal terms and two goals from Salisbury City's Alex Haddow levelled the scores. England were now on a roll and a further period of pressure saw Doncaster Deaf College's John Atkinson squeeze in a shot through a crowd of defenders to give England the lead.

Lithuanian were forced to lift their game and Rimrecivicius delighted the home crowd with a stunning overhead volley following a long throw from 'keeper Buicinskas. As the clocked ticked down the impetus was now with the home team and a series of ricochets presented Rudzionis with a tap-in to give the Lithuanians the lead once again.

England tried desperately to respond with English 'keeper Jackson peppering the home goal and the outstanding Husband going close in the last thirty seconds.

The final whistle brought mixed emotions from England Coach Graeme Dell: "I am proud of the way my team responded and developed after the disappointment of the first match," he said.

"You could visibly watch our team improving out there as they gained more Futsal experience.

"We came very, very close to a win tonight and I can't wait for our next fixtures to come along."