The Baltic state of Lithuania is the
only country in the world to have its own official perfume, called
the Scent of Lithuania, it is a blend of local plants, sandalwood,
cedar and musk. With a monthly average wage of only £525, I hope
this is not too expensive for local purchases, otherwise the work
force, mainly engaged in chemicals, textiles and wood and paper
processing, will be a bit pongy at the end of the working week.
With a population of 3 million, the
capital is Vilnius which lies near the geographic centre of Europe as
calculated by Jean-George Affholder in 1989. This probably does not
influence the fact that Lithuania has the third highest suicide rate
in the world!
Football is not the major sport,
basketball is, The country, 94th in the FIFA ranking, has
never qualified for the European Championship, although they have
made excellent progress in recent years, the standard of the nation's
football is on the way up and they have won two out of their four
qualifying games so far; over Estonia and San Marino. A recent
goaless draw in a friendly, with the Ukraine, has been an
encouragement, with an significant investment in a national academy.
This is Lithuania's first senior
international against England and with one of their more successful
players, Simonas Stankevicius, having played with non-league Nuneaton
Town this season and now is in the Leicester City U21 squad, they are
hoping for an upset at Wembley. At 25-1 the bookies think not.
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