© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday, sad news came from the Vilnius "Žalgiris" camp - the team was left by legionary Ilja Jagodkin, the legendary capital club lost to "Kaunas" on Wednesday and lost hopes of climbing to at least fifth place, and after the match three team fans died in a car accident.
In the match against "Kaunas", the Žalgiris team took the lead, but the second half unfolded unsuccessfully for them, and the meeting ended with another defeat.
"We played well until the break, but we started the second half very poorly. Already in the 30th second we missed a goal. How is it possible to play like this? Defenders, midfielders couldn't clear the ball. Andrejus Šilo played weakly, he lost many balls in the middle of the field," criticized the head coach of Žalgiris, Vincas Kateiva.
According to the coach, his team plays without enough discipline and does not learn from mistakes: "Our guys did not abide by discipline. Discipline is necessary in football, without it you will achieve nothing. I explain the mistakes to the players, but they turn around and repeat them. In the second half, "Kaunas" looked a bit more solid. The opponents exceeded us in speed."
In this match, the Vilnius "Žalgiris" team did not have legionary Ilja Jagodkin in the lineup anymore. "No one released him from the team. The footballer ran away from us without saying a word. We only found his bag," said the head coach of Žalgiris officially to the "A lyga" website.
According to the coach, the Russian legionary was not a very good footballer: "I. Jagodkin is lazy. He boasted that he had played in Nalchik. What is he talking about? If I. Jagodkin were a good player, he wouldn't come from Russia to Lithuania. Well, unless for big money. However, in Lithuania, nobody pays big salaries."
"This player was unnecessary for us, just additional expenses. I. Jagodkin looked at football carelessly, he was lazy to train. If the guy were talented, it would be possible to forgive him. However, he is not talented and lazy," did not spare harsh words about the former team player, the President of Žalgiris club Janušas Loputis.
The 28-year-old defender I.Jagodkin arrived in "Žalgiris" from Pskov at the end of August and played several "A lyga" matches, scoring one goal during them. He is not the only defensive player that the Vilnius team will not have in its ranks this season, as Tomas Mikuckis received a five-game suspension for an incident with a referee in the postponed 17th round of the "A lyga".
Meanwhile, the bad mood of the capital club's fans due to the poor performance of the team in the "A lyga" championship turned into complete tragedy on Wednesday. After the match in Kaunas, four "Žalgiris" fans were driving to Vilnius in a "Mitsubishi" car, and at Grigiškės they got into an accident - the car collided with a "Volvo" truck. Three guys died immediately, one was injured and after being examined by medics, he was allowed to go home.
As the leader of Žalgiris fans, Ingvaras Butautas, officially told the "A lyga" website, a 23-year-old guy, who was driving the car, and two other guys, aged 17 and 16, who were also in the car, died in the accident.
According to I.Butautas, in all the time when the fans of the capital's club followed their beloved team, such a tragedy happened for the first time: "All Žalgiris fans are shocked, we all promise to attend the boys' funerals. And during the next Žalgiris match, we will honor the deceased with a minute of silence."
