Lithuania coach quits

Under-fire Raimondas Zutautas has stepped down as head coach of Lithuania following a woeful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in the same group as Scotland.

With pressure mounting on Zutautas, he decided to resign following Tuesday’s comprehensive 4-1 defeat to the Czech Republic, a result that contributed to Scotland failing to secure a play-off place.

Zutautas replaced Portuguese coach Jose Couceiro in February 2010 and, despite masterminding a shock away win over the Czech Republic, Lithuania collected just one point in two matches against minnows Liechtenstein to finish second bottom of Group I. The win in Prague was wiped out by the embarrassing defeat to Liechtenstein.

The other point of the five earned by Lithuania came in their opening match, a 0-0 stalemate with Scotland. The 39-year-old Zutautas said: “Since I, as manager, failed to fulfil the task, I am ending my work with the team. I would like to thank the players for their effort and the spectators who supported us at a difficult time.

“But since the targets were not met, I have decided to leave. I wish the next coach good luck and thank you again to the players and coaching staff.”