FC Gintra: Meet Cardiff City’s Champions League opponents
der UWCL-Pokal; Symbolbild. (Image: Steffen Prößdorf)
Wednesday sees Cardiff City take their first steps in the Champions League in over a decade as they face FC Gintra.
As 20-time Lithuanian champions, Gintra are no strangers to the Champions League and have played some of the continent’s biggest sides. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Everton have all faced the side based in Šiualiai, the country’s fourth largest city.
Having spent so many years at the top of Lithuanian football, the club has created a strong pulling power. A number of Nigerians and North Americans currently call Gintra home, including defenders Kalin O’Brien from Canada and Ruby Diodati from the USA.
Both joined the club this season, and the journey they have taken to get to Gintra shows how attractive a side they are for players at the beginning of their careers.
“I had just finished university and I had got into contact with an agent at Clava Sports and he bought me a few offers,” Kalin began.
“I hadn’t really heard of Lithuania prior to receiving the offer, but after researching the team and the country, I felt it was the perfect fit for me. In the football world, Gintra has a very established reputation.
“They’ve always done historically well in this league, and I felt like it was the perfect spot for me to transition from varsity sport to professional sport.”
“I played college soccer and finished my masters in December, and I decided to enter the NWSL draft,” Ruby explained.
“I wasn’t drafted, but I had offers to attend a few pre-season camps after the draft. I ended up heading to Los Angeles and spent a month of pre-season with them.
“While I didn’t receive an offer from them either, I was really lucky getting in contact with my agent at PFC Management, and I wanted to get playing as soon as possible.
“He offered the chance to sign for Gintra, so I moved in January and now in September I get the chance to play in the Champions League.”
Particularly in the UK, we know how big women’s football is in North America. So, for players from over the pond to come and play for Gintra showcases the size and prestige of the club.
You only need to be in the city for a few days to realise how much the team means to the people, Diodati explained.
“What surprised me the most is the amount of pride they have in this organisation, and how that pride is translated to the rest of the city. You walk outside wearing club merchandise, and people are instantly so supportive of you. The club has bought so much success to the city.”
Success of course brings expectation, especially when you haven’t lost your grip on the league title for over two decades.
But Gintra certainly don’t look like a side who are going to relinquish their grasp on Lithuanian football any time soon.
Having started their league campaign in February, O’Brien believes the side is on course to deliver another title to the city.
“The league has gone pretty well so far,” she added.
There’s been a few games that have been a mental and physical challenge for us in terms of unity and team performance, but we feel very confident and comfortable heading into the second half of the season.”
As well as the Lithuanian A Lyga, Gintra are involved in the Baltic Women’s League, a competition between teams in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.
A couple of weeks ago, they defeated Flora of Estonia to win the title, and for Diodati, the chance to face different teams and different styles frequently is very refreshing.
“The style of play with each country is different, so we always prepare for different challenges every week. The Estonian and Latvian style differ from the Lithuanian style, so we always get the opportunity to show how adaptable we are and work things out on the field.
“We’re also able to try new things in every game; whether that be formations, personnel, seeing what we can look like in different scenarios.
“It has been a real grind these past few months, but the timing has worked out really well to put us in a position to play in the Champions League.”
And it’s in the Champions League that Gintra will be hoping to thrive. They reached the final of the first qualifying round two years ago but were defeated 8-1 by Breiðablik of Iceland.
Last season saw them get knocked out straight away by KuPs of Finland, and for a team so successful, losing is never a habit you want to fall into.
This season sees Gintra face off against the Bluebirds. Iain Darbyshire’s side are the third lowest ranked team in the competition, but both defenders are expecting a tough game.
“We’ve done our research,” O’Brien stated. “We know they’ve done really well over the last few seasons, especially last season. We know they’ve recruited a few international players too. We’ve watched them on film but we’re looking forward to playing against them.”
“We’re expecting a really tough test,” Diodati added. “The purpose of being in the Champions League is that you get the opportunity to play the best teams from all over Europe.
“We’re expecting a battle, we’re expecting them to look a little different compared to the teams we normally see, which can be challenging, especially adapting on the fly. We’re ready, we’re prepared, but we know it’ll be difficult.”
As well as Cardiff City, both Shelbourne of the Republic of Ireland and Glasgow City of Scotland will be jetting out to the Baltic nation to compete in this mini tournament.
Without a doubt, having three teams travel well over three hours to play a game is always helpful, and O’Brien knows how vital home advantage will be, especially in a football mad city like Šiuliai.
“The travel of course plays a factor in terms of the physical demand. Also, to be able to play at our own stadium where we play all of our home games at is advantageous.
“We know the pitch so well, our family and friends are all going to be there, and that will give us more of a motivation in the game. It’s always good to have home comforts.”
There is certainly confidence around the Gintra camp ahead of this fixture. While of course they want to go through, there is more to it than winning.
For Kalin and Ruby who have been part of the women’s game since they were youngsters, the chance to play in world’s elite club competition is a chance they will relish and cherish.
“Getting the opportunity to play in the Champions League, which is any footballer’s dream, is amazing,” Kalin said.
“I want to meet my personal goals in game, whether that be my one-on-one battle, making challenges, getting balls forward. I want to be able to walk off the pitch and feel that I’ve given everything I could and left it all on the field.”
“I want to make sure that I embrace my role and I do my responsibilities to the best of my ability, and to contribute what I can to the team,” Ruby remarked.
“We also want to enjoy the moment and have a little bit of fun, and hopefully we win some games while doing that.”
