Dinamo Tbilisi will hold the fifth friendly match on the camp in Turkey tomorrow. Our team will compete with the champion of Lithuania - FK Zalgiris.
FK Zalgiris was founded in 1947 and changed its name for several times. Initially, the team was called Dinamo, the next year Spartakas, and under the current name Lithuanian capital team has been playing since 1962. The name Žalgiris is dedicated to the battle and victory of Grunwald, both names are translated as - green forest. The Vilnius team plays at the 5,000-capacity Vetra Stadium, and the club colors are traditionally green and white.
Žalgiris is the 10-time champion of Lithuania. The last three draws were won by Vilnius. Zalgiris won the Lithuanian Cup for 14 times, and the team won the Super Cup for 7 times. It should be noted that last year the green-white team did a double, winning both the championship and the national cup. Bronze medals won in 1987 are considered the best achievement of Zalgiris at the Soviet Championship.
Last year in the European arena was the most successful in history for the Vilnius team. Zalgiris defeated Kosovo Balkan in the first qualifying stage of the Champions League, beat Sweden's Malmö in the second round, and lost to Norway's Bodioglim in the third stage. After that, the Vilnius team lost the Europa League playoff to the Bulgarian Ludogorets and moved to the group stage of the Conference League. Zalgiris took the fourth place in Group H in a match against Swiss Basel, Slovak Slovan and Armenian Pyunik.
The Lithuanians have been at the Turkish camp for two days, and before leaving for Antalya, our future rival played three friendly matches. Zalgiris met Latvian Meta on January 21 and won 2-0. The goals were scored by Martinas Šetkus and Mato Vareika. On January 25, they beat Lithuanian Dainava 4-2. The goals are scored by Dariush Stankevicius, Matias Oivus, Donatas Kazlauskas and Yoelis Bopesu. On January 28, Zalgiris defeated Hegelmans of Kaunas 3-2. The goals were scored by Kipras Kazukolovas, Romualdas Jansonas and Donatas Kazlauskas. In Antalya, in addition to Dinamo, Zalgiris will meet Bosnian Velej Mostar on February 4, play against Ukrainian Oleksandria on February 8, and then with Macedonian Shkup on February 11.
Vladimir Cheburin, a 57-year-old Kazakh football specialist, has been working as the head coach of Zalgiris since 2021.
Dinamo and Zalgiris competed with each other for 14 times. From them Dinamo won 7 matches, while Vilnius have 4 victories. The goal difference is 18/13 in favor of Tbilisi. The teams played another match at the CIS Cup in 1996, and Lithuanians won that match 3-1.
Such distinguished Lithuanian players as: Arminas Narbekovas, Romas Majeikis, Valdas Ivanauskas, Edgaras Jankauskas, Robertas Fridrikas and Daividas Šemberas played in Zalgiris in different times.