E. Jankauskas: I was surprised by the few mistakes made by Estonians

2024-06-11 23:48 © lff.lt

Lithuanian national football team lost to Estonia in the Baltic Cup after a penalty shootout and finished second in the tournament.

After the match, national team coach Edgaras Jankauskas said that the endings of such series are like a lottery.

"Of course, the penalty shootout is always like a lottery. Every day we practiced penalties after training, but here it is still a lottery, unfortunately, we couldn't draw that lucky ticket."

We controlled the ball less, but we didn't allow the opponents to create anything special. We played until the end, after missing at first we achieved a great goal, we had another chance when Fedia hit the post.

It's extremely disappointing because we really deserved to lift that cup. However, congratulations to the Estonians, who also surprised me. They made few mistakes, and at our level, there were too many of them. This way, control gradually shifts to the opponents.

I think we weren't at our best in ball possession. However, there are reasons for that, which didn't allow us to play the way we wanted," said E. Jankauskas.

He added that in crucial moments, the Estonians were calmer.

"The Estonians were more composed with the ball. Whether it was their merit, or our pressing moments were not executed well, such details can only be answered by reviewing the recording. We didn't play the match to take it to a penalty shootout," the specialist said.

He also praised Giedrius Matulevičius' equalizing goal.

"A wonderful execution, he really skillfully spun, deceived the opponent, wrong-footed the goalkeeper. But of course, this year he has already shown that he can score, but in this situation, definitely applaud him," praised the footballer E. Jankauskas.

The coach also revealed the message he wanted to send to the players in the locker room after the match.

"Before and after the series, I said that this is like a lottery, no matter how much we train. Those who have stood at that white spot know how it is in those moments. I wanted to relieve the tension before the series, and after losing, you have to say words of comfort, because everyone wanted to score.

We have to take out the positives – we didn't give up, even though not everything went well. The players know that they can play better," explained E. Jankauskas.