Jankauskas invited to the match in Minsk: I’m under pressure, but I just want to honor a colleague

The official website of the Belarusian Football Federation (ABFF) announces that the showdown between Belarusian and European star teams will be dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Belarusian football.

But E. Jankauskas Delphi He said he was invited to the farewell match of the greatest Belarusian footballer of all time, Alexander Hleb.

Along with the winner of the UEFA Cup and the Lithuanian Champions League, the European team should be represented by celebrities such as the German Kevin Kuranyi, the Czech Tomas Rosicky, the Croatian Zvonimir Soldo, the Portuguese Pedro Mendes.

Timofey Kalachov, Sergei Kornilenko, Alexander Chatskevich, Sergei Staniuk intend to play for the Belarusian team together with A. Hleb.

It is unclear if all the familiar faces will meet in Minsk as planned.

The demo match came before Sunday’s scandal that shook the aviation world, when a passenger plane flying from Greece to Vilnius was seized and landed, and Roman Protasevičius, founder of the Nexta information channel, was arrested with his friend.

E. Jankauskas claimed that he did not delve into the story that resonated throughout Europe, but received many messages from strangers.

“I’m getting messages from some people who write about terrible things in Belarus, deportations and torture. I don’t even know what it has to do with football. As I understand it, I received an invitation to a player’s farewell match. The only reason for going there is the desire to show respect for your colleague, I don’t know how it relates to politics, acquisitions.

They asked me if I could participate, well, since I didn’t. And then the writing of messages began. Where do they come from? I don’t know, probably from avatar accounts – he writes about some politicians. I even listened to the organizers to see if there were any political events here on why people didn’t want a soccer game to happen so much. They assured me that those parties had nothing to do with politics.

I think everyone misses football, entertainment. And now there are some people who are becoming politicized, trying to resolve their issues through football, ”said the Vilnius resident.

The Foreign Ministry “strongly recommends” Lithuanian citizens not to go to Belarus and those who are there to leave the country. The EU recommends that airlines avoid Belarusian airspace.

When asked if he did not fear possible travel disruptions in the event of chaos in civil aviation and airlines changing normal flight routes, E. Jankauskas shrugged.

“The fact that there are doubts about such events – will it get stuck or it won’t get stuck. The match, next week, I’ll see if it works out. I just don’t know what I should be afraid of there: are the people on the street not trapped by the war? As if we went to Somalia in 2000 “, said former players of clubs such as Bruges (Belgium), San Sebastiano Real Sociedad (Spain), Porto, Lisbon Benfica (both Portugal) and Nice (France) player.

Bitter in Minsk is not visible, but participants in protests against the application of the law of President Alexander Lukashenko unscrupulously snatch.

E. Jankauskas’ own career could have changed in such a way that he could have closely observed the political unrest in Belarus that had continued since last August’s elections.

Two years ago, the former Lithuanian national team strategist negotiated with the Minsk Dynamo club, but later did not become their coach.

Now E. Jankauskas assures that he does not want to get into politics and analyze the situation in the neighboring country.

“I am honest: I am not immersed in the political situation, and there are so many complaints from the media and social networks that it is difficult to clarify the truth. There are always two sides: some speak one way, others another. You don’t want to get caught up and be someone’s tool.

As a result, I can only speak specifically about these football matches, which I will show respect for my colleague, just that. If I organized those matches myself, and the players didn’t go to them because of some kind of rally, march, strangers that have nothing to do with my profession and event, it would be strange to me.

I don’t want to fight alien wars. If I go, I will only honor A. Hleb. I understand that there is unrest, there is politics, but we really don’t want to participate, ”said the soccer specialist.

It is true that you would not be too surprised if some of the stars of the European team did not come to Minsk after the events on Sunday.

“I can imagine the pressure that others have started to feel. Because he sends me messages about bloody deals himself. I imagine other players get the same information. I don’t know how they will react, maybe someone will change their mind. And maybe there won’t be those games at all, if it’s scary there, if we go to the war front, “reasoned E. Jankauskas.

With former Arsenal stars from London (England), Barcelona (Spain) and Stuttgart (Germany), A. Hlebu has not been able to play for a Lithuanian. However, E. Jankauskas says he knows the Belarusian, six years younger, who left his national team and professional football last year.

“We never play together, but against each other, in clubs and national teams. We are from neighboring countries where there are not many footballers who have collapsed into the elite. We know each other well, we respect each other,” explained E. Jankauskas.

He himself said goodbye to big sports in 2011 and worked as a coach, in 2016-2018 he led the country’s national team.

Leaving the latter, E. Jankauskas took a long break from his professional activity, which continues to this day.

During June 11. He will work as a television expert for the next European Football Championship.

“It used to be that during championships, television invited people to express their opinions. I would not call myself a special expert, I would just watch the game and share my thoughts with the spectators, ”said E. Jankauskas.

We remind you that on Monday the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) announced that it was canceling its plans to play friendly matches with the country’s national teams in Minsk.

June 8 The Lithuanian youth team (under 21 years old), coached by Marius Stankevičius, long-time partner of E. Jankauskas, was going to visit Belarus. – Valdas Urbonas students in the national team of the successor of E. Jankauskas.

“We have said before that we separate sport from politics, but recent events are forcing changes in perceptions and decisions about the situation. We will meet with UEFA representatives this week to discuss the possibility of canceling this match. We cannot do it alone, UEFA’s approval is needed. I think UEFA is understanding enough, it is watching events and this match will not take place, “commented LFF General Secretary Edgaras Stankevičius.

“It is difficult to imagine that such things can happen in the 21st century. We were already in Minsk last November, we saw that the situation was hot. There was not a very strong desire to walk around the city somewhere, we did not even get permission to go out. from the hostel.

We try to focus on football, but obviously the situation is not normal. Sunday’s events show that the further away, the more surprises to expect. And don’t react to those events. Of course, the match is scheduled for November only, a long way off. But I think that we are definitely going to find another rival, and if not, it is better not to play anything than to maintain sports relations with a country where these things are happening ”, added V. Urbonas.