Northern Ireland v Lithuania (12/11/2021)

DOMESTIC • The A Lyga – the top tier of domestic football in Lithuania – has been considered a professional league since 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. • Seasons typically run from March until the end of November and the 2021 campaign features 10 clubs. • Zalgiris won the 2020 A Lyga – their eighth league championship triumph – though only six clubs competed after one side folded and another two were disqualified following an investigation into match-fixing allegations. • Zalgiris, who are based in Vilnius, are the competition’s most successful side. Apart from winning eight titles – including the very first in 1991 – they have finished as runners-up on 11 occasions. • A Zalgiris player has finished as top scorer in each of the last five seasons, although these have been five different players from five different counties. • Zalgiris scored 106 goals in 28 games during the 1995-96 season, with Edgaras Jankauskas scoring a league high 25, but they only finished third in the eventual standings. • Zalgiris faced Linfield in the first round of qualifying for this season’s UEFA Champions League. After losing 3-1 in Lithuania, David Healy’s side went down 5-2 on aggregate after being beaten 2-1 in Belfast . Zalgiris finished that game with just nine men after two late red cards. However, the Lithuanian outfit were knocked out in the very next round by Hungarians Ferencvaros. • They also played against Portadown in the qualifying round for the 2004-05 UEFA Cup – winning 4-2 on aggregate – and the following season Zalgiris eliminated Lisburn Distillery in the Intertoto Cup.

• Edgaras Jankauskas became the first Lithuanian to win the Champions League when he was part of Jose Mourinho’s Porto side that won the tournament in 2004. Jankauskas was named the Lithuanian Player of the Year on five occasions. • Only two managers in Lithuania’s history have not been Lithuanian. The first was Jose Couceiro, who had been in charge of FBK Kaunas in the country’s top domestic league. The second was Csaba Laszlo, who has also been in charge of Scottish sides Hearts and Dundee United. • In the most recent FIFA World Rankings, Lithuania were 135th, directly below Togo and directly above Latvia. Their highest ranking was 37th, which they achieved in October 2008.

IRISHFA.COM

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