2025.03.23 19:30
Jankauskas on the upcoming Finnish challenge: Support from fans is another driving force for us
The Lithuanian national team, which suffered a disappointing defeat in Warsaw on Friday, does not have much time for sadness - on Monday, our team will face the second match of the window, this time against the Finnish national team, writes the LFF.
The match at Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium will start at 6:45 p.m. and will be available to watch live on the LRT.lt portal and the LRT PLIUS channel.
Team coach Edgaras Jankauskas, who participated in the press conference on the eve of the match, assured that the team is continuing to recover after the duel in Poland, and Pijus Širvys, who was substituted in that match due to injury, should be fully ready for the match.
"We have the second day after the match, of course, the consequences are still felt, the muscles are not fully recovered, but I think that in this sector we have not been talking about the problem of the second match for the second year."
We have proven and shown ourselves that the second match can sometimes be even better than the first in terms of physicality. Most players play abroad, where they are used to two matches a week and we look at it completely differently, it is no longer the main challenge.
"It is necessary to recover, players have their own routines and we have good conditions for recovery, we also have good medical staff and all other conditions. As for Pijas, it was just a muscle spasm and everything will be fine tomorrow," emphasized E. Jankauskas.
After Friday's meeting, both the coach and the players said that they shouldn't grieve for long over such an outcome, and the coach repeated the same thing on Sunday evening.
"I think we need to eliminate that sadness, disappointment or other negative feelings from ourselves as soon as possible. The match was good, we played against a very strong opponent and that sadness is really justified because we feel that we deserved more."
"Now I see only one way, although there is a second one - you can continue to look for some signs of failure, karma, but we are choosing a positive path, as someone said, that victory is coming, because we have already experienced a lot of defeats. We are in a positive mood, we will strive for victory and we hope that it will come tomorrow and it will be very sweet and with the support of the fans we will have a great match and, I believe, a good result," the strategist shared his thoughts.
The
Finns had to get seriously tired in their first match and only defeated the Maltese players 1-0 away.
As E. Jankauskas said, the future Lithuanian opponents did not show their best game in that match, but both teams will have something to take away from that match.
"We only analyzed our opponent from that one match, because there is a new coach, it was his first match. In terms of content, it may not have been the most successful or very good match, but it was enough for a victory."
We also see areas that we can exploit, but we know that when teams play badly, they also see their mistakes and will want to correct them. We have a general picture, which is a solid, mature, masculine team, physically powerful, with good international experience, Champions League experience. They are not letting in very young players yet, so a real manly fight awaits," the coach said.
Kaunas Stadium began to fill up even faster after Friday's match, and the coach thanked the fans once again for this and accepted it as a commitment.
"[That support] is very helpful and very obliging, it is another engine for us. We must thank people for it, give them that spectacle, the fight and, finally, the victory. I hope that we will all celebrate that victory together," said the coach.
The final team in Group G will also be revealed on Sunday evening, as Spain and the Netherlands will play in the second leg of the Nations League play-offs.
The first match ended in a 2:2 draw, and as E. Jankauskas said, the Lithuanians have no preferences in this pair.
"We'll watch the match and see which opponent awaits us... Whatever happens, happens, we have no wishes," the strategist smiled.
https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/sportas/10/2519049/jankauskas-pries-laukianti-suomiu-issuki-sirgaliu-palaikymas-dar-vienas-variklis-mums
