Jankauskas Edgaras is a professional Lithuanian ex-soccer player who played as a central striker, head coach of the Lithuanian national football team. Winner of the Champions League in the 2003/2004 season as part of the Porto team (Portugal). During his career as a football player, he achieved considerable heights, playing for various European top clubs. So, he is the owner of the UEFA Cup 2002/2003 (Porto), the Lithuanian Cup (football club algiris, in 1993 and 1994), the winner of the Belgian Championship 1997/1998 and the Belgian Super Cup in 1998 as part of Brugge, Winner of the Scottish Cup 2005/2006 with the Hart of Midlotian team.
The best footballer of Lithuania
In addition to the above, in the career of Jankauskas Edgaras there were many other achievements and triumphs. Lithuanian footballer is the best in his country in the last century. In 1995, the Lithuanian national football team called up a twenty-year-old striker, who subsequently defended the colors of his national team until 2010. He was an indispensable, authoritative footballer of the Lithuanian squad.
Biography: the beginning of a football career
The future leader of the national team was born on March 12, 1975 in the city of Vilnius (Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR). Pretty early on he began his professional career as a player, playing as part of the Paneris youth club. In 1991, the algiris club bought it, and the young footballer makes his debut in the newly created Lithuanian championship top division. In the new club, the player quickly adapts and sometimes leaves the starting lineup.
His game was simply amazing, so the coaching staff reacted positively to considering his candidacy for the main team, regardless of age. Together with the algiris team, Jankauskas Edgaras became the winner of the Lithuanian Cup in 1993. It was the debut cup triumph for the young Lithuanian striker. Each season, his game became better and more professional, and the very next season the team repeated last year’s success, again winning the Lithuanian National Football Cup (1994).
Years spent in Russian championships
After Lithuania, Yankauskas went on to play in the Russian championship. Here he spent only two seasons, for which he managed to go out as part of the Moscow teams - CSKA and Torpedo. In the Russian football championship, Yankauskas often went out to play in the first team. In 1996, as part of the “army”, he played 18 matches, in which he managed to score 9 goals. This is a very rating statistics for the forward of the Russian championship. In Torpedo (in 1997), the Lithuanian footballer also played only one season. Here he scored 10 times in 29 matches.
Edgaras Jankauskas: achievements of the Lithuanian striker in the European championships
With the departure of the Russian championship in the career of Jankauskas Edgaras, a series of transfer transitions began, which lasted a little more than one decade. During his football life, he replaced 16 European (and not only!) Clubs. Yankauskas managed to play in Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France, Scotland, Cyprus and even in the United States of America. Together with Brugge, he became the owner of the gold medals of the Belgian Championship, and by moving to Porto he conquered European cups such as the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. In 2006, he played for the Scottish Hearts club, with which he managed to achieve triumph in the national cup.
Finishing a career at FC Fakel
In 2011, Yankauskas Edgaras returned to Russian football, where he began to play for the Fakel team from the lower division. As part of the Voronezh club, the Lithuanian center forward played only 10 matches in which he failed to score a goal. In the same year, a football player decides to end his football career and start coaching.
Coaching career: Lokomotiv, Harts, Trakai and the Lithuanian national football team
Having played all over Europe, Jankauskas Edgaras gained invaluable experience, which he took over from leading coaches. In addition, the Lithuanian striker already knew many foreign languages. In 2011, he was accepted to the post of trainer-translator in the Moscow club “Locomotive”. After spending one season in Russia, Yankauskas moves to Scotland, where he holds the post of head coach at the familiar “Harts” club. By the way, the owner of Hart of Midlotian was Lithuanian Vladimir Romanov, with whom Jankauskas maintained friendly communication. In 2014, the mentor returned to his homeland and began coaching the Lithuanian club Trakai. Since 2016 he is the head coach of the Lithuanian national football team.