Recent History
In the 1990s, Lithuania established a respectable presence in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers: third place in their group in both UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifiers, they were once again contenders for qualification and managed an away draw with Germany and a home win over Scotland; however, a 1–0 defeat to Scotland in the final game ended their hopes. Although finishing fifth in their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, Lithuania were nevertheless competitive.
Lithuania drew with world champions Italy 1–1 in Naples in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying game on 2 September 2006, in the first competitive game that Italy played since the World Cup final.
On 6 September 2008, Lithuania defeated Romania 3–0 in a World Cup 2010 qualifier. The victory was regarded by many as "an historic win." It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė.
Read more about this topic: Lithuania National Football Team
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“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)