Football player Tadas Kijanskas: ‘Happy to score, but team spirit is more important’

Kijanskas, who is the captain of the national team, also used to be the captain of the Israeli team, but this year coach Reuven Atar has decided to give the role to another player. The Lithuanian is not sad about it and says to the Lithuania Tribune that “it is really good to be a captain but not my main consideration. The most important thing is the team and to do anything and everything to help the team to get to victory.”

The Lithuanian scored his first goal in the match against Hapoel Akko, which was the opening match of the season. Well into the second half, Kijanskas used a good corner shot and directed the ball to the goal. It was the only goal of the match and he secured the first three ranking points for his team. In the interview to the Lithuania Tribune, Kijanskas said that his team was already preparing for the next match and there his team would “fight for the three points in order to be in the front of the league”.

“It was a very nervous match for both teams,” said Kijanskas and added that “in the beginning of the season you always feel an adrenaline rush and it gives extra power to you as well as to the team. You want to start the season in a positive way and we managed to do it despite the match not being as good as we planned. I am happy to score and to help the team, but the team’s spirit is the most important thing.”

Kijanskas, who finished last season with Hapoel Haifa at the 12th place in the Israeli Premier League, believes that this season his team will do much better: “Before the season, we trained very hard and from day to day we became better and better. I think that during this season we will be able to be ranked in a higher place because we brought a few high level players and we trained well and hard.”