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Last season, Vilnius, who finished third in the A League, announced that they had extended their contracts with both foreign players from Macedonia - Dejan Milošeski and Bobi Božinovski, and also confirmed the transfer of the team's defender Mindaugas Panka together with the FC club. Contracts with two defenders from Macedonia were signed at the beginning of last year for one year with the possibility of extending for another year, and the capital club took advantage of this condition. 24-year-old D. Milošeski was one of the team's leaders last season. The "Vėtra" coaches chose him as the best player of the team. D. Milošeski played 34 matches in the A League and scored 4 goals, and he also stood out twice in the LFF Cup tournament. Meanwhile, 25-year-old B. Božinovski played 18 matches in the A League last season and scored 1 goal. However, the season's defender did not finish due to an injury - he broke a bone in his foot during training. B. Božinovski has now recovered from the injury and will join the team's training sessions soon. The young defender also extended his contract with the capital club. The 22-year-old defender, who previously played for Alytus' "Dainava" and scored one goal in 17 matches for the Lithuanian youth national team, signed a new two-year contract with "Vėtra", valid until 2009. In January 2006, D. Šernas went for a trial in Riga's "Skonto", but did not receive an offer from the Latvian club. As the official "Vėtra" website announces, the team gathered for their first training session of this year on Friday and will work at home until the next Wednesday, then on January 10 they will go to a training camp in Turkey to prepare for the upcoming season and try out new recruits. The first training camp in Turkey will include friendly matches with Moscow's "Spartak", Moscow's "Dynamo", and Odessa's "Chernomorets". The "Vėtra" players will return from Turkey on January 28. In Vilnius, they will have several days off, then continue preparing for the season in the capital, and on February 10 they will hold another two-week training camp in Turkey. The team's new forward Vitalis Stankevičius already participated in the first "Vėtra" training session, and the promising 22-year-old defender Mindaugas Panka, with whom the terms of the contract are being finalized, also trained with the team. According to EuroFootball.com, the official signing of the contract is only a matter of hours. The information about the transfer of the player who has been playing in Vilnius for the last few years was confirmed by representatives of his former club. Ivan Švabovičius, who leads the team, officially stated to the Vilnius website that they decided to part ways with Mindaugas Panka because there are too many players in that position on the team. The team led by Aleksandras Tarchanovas will also have losses: according to EuroFootball.com, on Monday, one of the team's veterans will announce the end of his career.
