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The champion of the Lithuanian A League - Panevezys - has signed their first foreign player. Panevezys has invited defender Ruslan Michalčiuk from Latvia, who played last season for the Jurmala team and had already played for the Ekrano team over a year ago.
"We signed a one-year contract with R. Michalčiuk. We knew his abilities, as he had played for our team before. We had planned for a long time to invite R. Michalčiuk," said Ekrano's head coach Virginijus Liubšys to the official A League website.
Ekrano's coach constantly emphasized that R. Michalčiuk is the only foreign player able to fit into the Panevezys team. Ruslan has represented the Ekrano team from the beginning of August 2004 until the end of that season.
R. Michalčiuk is the second newcomer to Ekrano. Earlier, Panevezys signed a contract with former Siauliai striker Egidijus Varnas. After the last season, defenders Audrius Banevicius, Lauras Janusevicius, and striker Valerijus Mizigurskis left the Lithuanian champions.
"There won't be any more changes in the team. Our leaders are not planning to go to any tryouts for now and most likely won't. Ekrano still lacks two positions - a defender and a winger. We don't need more players, we have young guys who could complement the team," V. Liubšys confirmed.
On January 9, Ekrano will start training. The team will train for two weeks in Panevezys, then hold a training camp in Palanga. The strongest team in the country plans to play friendly matches against the strongest Latvian clubs - Riga's Skonto, Liepaja's Metalurgs, and Ventspils.
