Yesterday I took an opportunity to go and see my country start its run in the UEFA Nations League C. Lithuania started the campaign against Serbia, the strongest team in the group, so it was naive to expect anything less than a loss (the odds for Lithuania to win were over 10). However, people who came to the LFF Stadium this Friday night could be happy as the weather was wonderful (yes, without any results for the last 30 years, Lithuanians have to find other things to be happy about) and both teams played pretty well. As a Lithuanian football fan, I would say that my country played above its level. And yet, Lithuania lost. 

The official Lithuanian national team home game stadium. Max capacity: 5000. Pathetic. But Lithuanians are used to that.

I would like to talk about the LFF Stadium, which is the official Lithuanian national team home game stadium, a little more. It is located in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. People would normally expect some huge stadium like Old Trafford or Allianz Arena, but the reality is much sadder. The official stadium has the capacity of 5,000 people which is pathetic in football's terms. Heck, even a normal basketball arena can fit at least 10,000 people. 

A lot of foreigners would have a hard time finding this stadium because they would just drive past it, thinking that it was some local school's stadium where 3rd graders play their inter-class football tournaments. And yet again, I must remind you that the Lithuanian national team plays in this stadium. Even the surface is artificial. I wonder how did Nemanja Matic or Mitrovic felt playing under such conditions. They probably felt like going back in time to the 90's. 

At least the turf watering mechanisms are working just fine so the conditions were as good as possible in such stadium

I still believe that any bigger city must have a good football stadium because in the long term it accumulates money and might even increase tourism. Sadly, to realize the Lithuanian football level, you should simply walk into the LFF Stadium. How could we expect players to play well when they don't even have where to train properly?

However, the organizers did everything well yesterday. Before the match, everyone who came earlier could enjoy a live concert of the most famous Lithuanian hip-hop band "GnG Sindikatas." I would suggest you check them out but without any Lithuanian knowledge, you would probably think the band is no good. Just like Lithuanian football.

The ticket to the game cost around 20 euros. The concert of the most popular Lithuanian band was included. A great deal.

Talking about the match, it was a pretty decent one taking into account that Lithuania is not even remotely close to Serbia's level. Both teams played an open game, letting their attacking players have some fun. However, the only goal was scored in the first half, when Tadic converted a penalty kick after a horrendous and unforgivable mistake of Lithuanian defenders. After that, Serbia should have scored at least a few more goals, but they failed to convert a second penalty kick, hit the woodwork at least 3 times, and could not find any ways to score against the Lithuanian goalkeeper Setkus, who was the best player on the pitch for the home team.

Those missed opportunities gave Lithuania a chance to get back to the game. Sadly, Lithuanians wasted a couple of great chances themselves, and the final whistle indicated Serbia's victory 1:0. Before the match, I was expecting to see something as awful as Serbian Movie (if you don't get the reference, leave it this way) but my national team played well enough not to be humiliated. Only a naive person could expect for Lithuania not to lose so losing 1:0 is a positive result. How sad is that?

Lithuania created a few wonderful chances but Serbian players are more technical and skilled, and that was obvious.

People in the stadium were pretty friendly and happy as well. There was almost no drama, except a couple of small fights between drunk Lithuanian and Serbian fans. Also, one guy tried to light a cigarette in the stadium and got verbally assaulted by a father of a small kid. It was funny to watch how the father tried not to curse, but in the end, he was like "you fucking bum." Oh, I love the irony.

Overall, it was a great night, and I am happy that I went to see the match without having too many expectations. Lithuania lost, the stadium is still pathetic, and Lithuanian football is not even close to improving. However, fans got used to that and even 1:0 loss is now celebrated as a good result. It's all about adapting, right?