V. Čeburinas after a painful setback pointed to the football player who scored two penalty goals.

2025-07-16 12:49 © Elvis Žaldaris

Vilnius "Žalgiris" finished its performance in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers on Tuesday.

The Lithuanian champions lost to the Maltese team "Hamrun" in the return match after a series of 11-meter penalties.

"Žalgiris" and "Hamrun" held one of the most impressive 11-meter penalty shootouts ever seen – both teams took 14 shots.

Interestingly, the Lithuanian champions were unable to convert two penalties due to Dino Salcinovicius, and this was discussed by the team's coach Vladimir Čeburin after the match.

"The first half did not go well for us, we did not stick to the game plan. The opponents had chances, and they took advantage of two of them. The first goal came from our mistake, and we simply lacked concentration on the second one."

"In the second half, we tried to get back into the game, but the opponents were perfectly prepared. Of course, everything could have ended differently."

A penalty shootout is often referred to as a lottery, but in my opinion, the most important things here are concentration and focus. If a player cannot do that and misses two penalties, it is a problem,” said C. Čeburin.