E. Jankauskas: "Everyone wants to be in the national team and give fans beautiful emotions."

2024-10-11 18:40 © lff.lt

The Lithuanian men's national team held its final training session on Friday evening ahead of Saturday's match in the UEFA Nations League tournament.

We remind you that the Lithuanian team will compete against the Kosovo players in Kaunas on Saturday. The match will start at 4 PM,  you can purchase tickets for the match by clicking here.

In the official press conference held before the match, the national team's head coach Edgaras Jankauskas shared his thoughts on the upcoming battle and preparation for it.

"Kosovo is a technical team that quickly transitions to counter-attacks. It's a well-assembled team, players from good leagues, France, England, they play in the Champions League, there are players from the Europa League.

There’s no denying it – on paper they may be the stronger team, that's not a surprise, but that doesn’t mean anything, we have already shown to others and ourselves that we can play, that we have the necessary attributes, that we look like a strong and solid team that has its own style, face, values, and strengths. We will not be an easy nut to crack for any team," the coach stated.

The Kosovo national team has been coached by German Franco Foda since the beginning of this year, and E. Jankauskas recalled past encounters with this strategist.

"I faced him many years ago when he was coaching the 'Sturm' team (an Austrian club – editor's note), and I saw him recently at a coaching seminar in Berlin. He's a very pleasant person, and his team will probably be disciplined, as we can see. He is a coach with a lot of experience, and his teams always exhibit that German discipline," the Lithuanian national team coach spoke about his opponent.

Currently, the Kosovo national team is without injured forward Vedat Muriqi, who is also the all-time leading scorer for the Kosovo national team. However, according to E. Jankauskas, the opponents have capable replacements for their leader.

"This team does not become weaker even if they lose a player. Yes, he is the top scorer for the national team, but in his place is Albion Rrahmani, a forward from Sparta Prague, who plays in the Champions League, scores goals in the local championship, is of the same caliber, enjoys that technical football and helps midfielders, has very good finishing. He is a versatile forward; I don’t think they will change their style," the coach asserted.

The coach also shared a message for the fans.

"I still remember how the spectators uplifted the team during the matches against Montenegro, Hungary, when we felt that when the energy was waning, that wave of support would come, and we are very grateful for that. In every match, the guys strive to give them a great spectacle and struggle, to achieve victory.

It doesn’t always succeed, but the spectators see and appreciate that, the players remember those things, and everyone wants to be on the national team, to play for their flag and to gift beautiful emotions to the fans," the coach concluded.