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The two well-known football specialists from Lithuania, who have accumulated many years of experience working with national teams, have officially been confirmed as assistant coaches of the Lithuanian national football team - Vitalijus Stankevičius and Igoris Pankratjevas, who in the past was a famous football player and has coached the country's best clubs in recent years.
The new head coach of the national team, Csaba Laszlo, chose his assistants. Both V. Stankevičius and I. Pankratjevas have already helped during the training camps of the "B" and "U-21" teams since the end of February. After the coaching candidates were recently approved by the LFF Executive Committee, they officially signed their contracts.
The coaching staff of the national team in training camps will also be supplemented by specialists from the National Football Academy - goalkeeper coach Algirdas Surgautas and fitness coach Gracijus Girdauskas.
According to Cs. Laszlo, the experience and personal qualities of these coaches should complement each other and help achieve results.
V. Stankevičius returns to the national team after a three-year break, while I. Pankratjevas has coached various clubs in the country over the past decade.
V. Stankevičius will continue to coach the U-21 team until the end of the qualifying cycle and will lead the team in cases where both teams' schedules do not overlap.
46-year-old V. Stankevičius has played for Kaunas "Inkaras" and Vilnius "Žalgiris" as a player. As an assistant coach, he worked for many years in his hometown club "Inkaras" and FBK "Kaunas", and also at the "Lviv" (Ukraine) club. As a head coach, he led Kedainiai "Nevėžis" and Vilnius MFD "Žalgiris".
I. Pankratjevas, 47, is best known as a legendary player for Vilnius "Žalgiris". He played for clubs in Germany, Russia, and Ukraine after Lithuania's independence was restored. As a coach, he led Kaunas "Inkaras" and Klaipėda "Atlantas", and later worked in "Kaunas" and "Žalgiris", briefly coached Marijampolė's "Sūduva", an Azerbaijani club, and the country's U-21 team.
The Lithuanian national team plans to play its first friendly match of the year against the Russian team in Switzerland at the end of May. The World Cup qualifying matches will begin in September with a home game against Slovakia.
