Lietuvos vice champion FBK has finished its vacation. On Tuesday morning, the team meeting took place, during which the new head coach of the team, Eduardas Malofejevas, was introduced to the players as expected.
The 63-year-old Belarusian football specialist has not yet signed a contract with the "Kaunas" club, but he has already led his first training session. After that, E. Malofejevas answered questions from the newspaper "Kauno diena".
- What are your first impressions about "Kaunas"?
- I came to Lithuania to engage in my favorite thing - football. I want to help Lithuanian football with all my heart.
First impressions? I met the team. 40 players took part in the training. I have formed some opinion. It's not bad. I can feel that good specialists worked with them before me, I didn't come to an empty place.
- Recently, have you only known about Lithuanian football from other people's stories?
- I am quite familiar with Lithuanian football. The most important thing is to know the level of football. I certainly know it - both various leagues and the country's national team.
- When you were offered to become the coach of "Kaunas", did you agree immediately?
- Everything happened unexpectedly. I worked as the head coach of the Minsk "MTZ-Ripo" children's sports school. "MTZ-Ripo" and "Kaunas" belong to the same owner, so I came to Lithuania as if on a business trip. However, I arrived to serve Lithuanian football honestly.
- "Kaunas" was the Lithuanian champion for many years in a row, but this year they lost this title. Is your task to regain the country's champion title for the team?
- I worked with top-level teams, even coached the Soviet Union national team. What do you think I will aim for with "Kaunas"? Of course, the highest results.
- To achieve this goal, will the current players be enough or do you need to strengthen the team with new footballers?
- I am in favor of giving job opportunities to local guys. Even when I worked in Minsk, I said that we wouldn't invite anyone from abroad. And in Kaunas, I will try to stick to the same principle. Of course, if good players come for a tryout, the team can be supplemented with them. However, we don't need a lot of foreign players.