Football
PA Sport 7y

Lithuania boss Jankauskas: 'Iceland would be a great example to follow'

Lithuania will bid to emulate Iceland by claiming a shock victory over England at Wembley on Sunday.

Manager Edgaras Jankauskas admitted Lithuania would love to haunt England with a victory every bit as damaging as Iceland's Euro 2016 triumph, in this weekend's World Cup qualifying Group F clash in London.

Iceland were ranked 34th in the world when they floored England with a 2-1 win in the last 16 of the European Championship last year, while Lithuania currently sit 107th in the world standings.

Former Lithuania striker Jankauskas knows all about upsetting the odds after making Porto's squad for their surprise 2004 Champions League final triumph over Monaco, the 3-0 win inspired by Jose Mourinho.

"Iceland would be a great example to follow,'' said Jankauskas.

"It's the example to follow but it will be an extremely tough game for us.

"First of all it's a privilege to play at such a legendary stadium and probably one of the best stadiums in the world.

"There are always chances and chances depend on us, [there are] many examples where not necessarily the favourites win the game.

"We are a humble team but we have our game plan and we'll stick to that.

"We'll think more about our game than the opponent, we know we play against top, top players, representing the best league in the world.

"It's a great test for us where we have to be collective, tactically and mentally strong to deny that quality.

"It's going to be very difficult, we know that, but it's a great test for us.

"It's a great experience to test ourselves, how far can we go, push ourselves above the limit.

"Because to match those players, our opponents, we have to do much more than we are used to. And that's going to be a great test for us all.''

Goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus admitted Lithuania know their best route to victory will revolve around stifling Gareth Southgate's side.

"I'm not thinking that we can beat England in ball possession!'' said Setkus. "We have our plan and we'll try to make it tomorrow.

"I think we'll have some opportunities, and maybe with some luck we can score some goals.

"We are not going in thinking we've already lost. The game starts from zero-zero. For the goalkeeper it can be a busy game.

"But we've analysed the England team a lot and I think I'm prepared for tomorrow, so let's see.''

While England are chasing a revitalisation under new boss Southgate, Jankauskas believes they have failed to capitalise on the power of the Premier League.

"In my opinion of course England has to achieve more than it has done recently,'' said Jankauskas.

"But we know probably the reasons why that happened -- because the Premier League is the best league in the world, it's very famous and has the very best foreign players coming to play there.

"That can push the local players to the side a bit, and that's probably the reason.''

^ Back to Top ^