Although Lithuania Has Been Playing International Matches for 52 Years, The Lithuanian National Team Will Only Face the Dutch National Team for the First Time On Sunday in Kaunas. After Sunday Evening’s World Cup Qualifier, There Will Be Only Three European Countries That Have Never Played Against Oranje.
“What do you think of our country?” was one of the questions a lithuanian journalist Asked National Coach Ronald Koeman on Saturday Evening. “A Nice Airport, Nice Hotel, Nice Stadium,” Koeman Replied with a smile. He had Landed in The Baltic State Less Than Two Hours Earlier. “I’m here for the first time.”
It is not surprising that koeman had never leg to lithuania. In The 120-Year History of the Dutch National Team, Oranje Has Never Played Against the Country. Lithuania Will Be the Fiftieth Country Within the European Football Association UEFA That the Netherlands Can Cross Off. Of the Current 54 UEFA Countries (Including the Netherlands), Oranje Will Only Miss Serbia, Kosovo and Azerbaijan After Tonight.
Oranje Has Played Against the Predecessors of Serbia, Namely Yugoslavia (Nine Times) and Serbia and Montenegro (at the 2006 World Cup), But Never Against the Serbian Team. That team Has Been Active Since the Autumn of 2006, After Serbia and Montenegro Separated from Each Other.
The Former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan Has had a National Team Since 1992. Kosovo, which Split from Serbia in 2008, is the youngste UEFA Member. The Kosovar Team Has Been Playing Official International Matches Since 2014.
Oranje Probably won Europe ‘complete’ Anytime Soon
Lithuania-Netherlands Will Be the 877TH Match of the Dutch National Team, which Played its First International Match in 1905. Belgium was by far the most frequent opponent: 129 Times in Total. (West) Germany (48 Times) is second on the list. Whether the non-European Countries, Brazil (13) was the most frequent opponent or orange.
Altheghe there are only three European Countries missing from the list of opponents after Sunday Evening, it is Unlikely that Oranje Will complete the European ‘Bingo Card’ Anytime Soon. Kosovo and Azerbaijan Play in LoWer Divisions in the Nations League Than Orange and Have Never Qualified for a Final Tournament.
The Chance of A Meeting With Serbia is Greater. The Serbs, Like the Netherlands, Play in Division a of the Nations League and Regularly Participate in Final Tournaments.
It is remarkable that it has tasks so long for lithuania to be an opponent of the Netherlands. Lithuania Already had a national team from 1923 to 1940 and that has the case again the independence of the Baltic State in 1990.
By Way of Comparary: Belarus HAS had a National Team Since 1992 and that country has already playing orange ten times in the European Championship or World Cup Qualification.
‘We are going to play against a European Giant’
It makes it QUITE A STIR in the Lithuanian team, which is 143rd in the Fifa World Ranking, that the Netherlands is finally the opponent on Sunday.
Defender Klaudijus Upstas Spoke to the Lithuanian Broadcaster LRT or “A Gift”. “We are going to play against a European giant. We are going to enjoy that, but we also have to give everything. It is nice for the spectators in kaunas to see such a match.”
Lithuania-Netherlands Starts on Sunday at 6 pm (Dutch Time) in Kaunas and is Led by the Azerbaijani referee Elchin Masiyev. Poland, Oranje’s Biggest Competitor in Group G, Will Not Be in Action in the World Cup Qualifier on Sunday.