Iceland example inspires Lithuania against England

LONDON: Lithuania manager Edgaras Jankauskas hopes his side can follow in Iceland's footsteps by beating England in Sunday's World Cup qualifier at Wembley.
Iceland upset the odds to beat England 2-1 in the last 16 of Euro 2016 — a result that ended Roy Hodgson's time as England manager.
However, Iceland were ranked 34th in the world rankings during last year's European Championships in France, whereas Lithuania are currently 107th in the global standings heading into Sunday's match.
As a player, former striker Jankauskas was involved in a major upset win as a member of Porto's squad for their 2004 Champions League final victory over Monaco in a match where the Portuguese side, under the control of current Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, won 3-0.
"Iceland would be a great example to follow," Jankauskas said Saturday. "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.
It's going to be very difficult, we know that, but it's a great test for us."
England currently top Group F, having won three and drawn one of their four qualifying matches so far as they bid to reach Russia 2018 under Gareth Southgate, Hodgson's successor.
Lithuania, by contrast, have just one win from four group games and are five points behind England in fourth place, with only Scotland and Malta below them in the pool.
But they are determined to maintain a positive attitude and see if they can catch England on the break.
"I'm not thinking that we can beat England in ball possession!", said Lithuania goalkeeper Ernestas 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."
England have not won a major international championship since lifting the 1966 World Cup on home soil, with the Iceland loss one of several knockout defeats they have suffered in recent years.
In common with many observers, Jankauskas said the financial strength of the Premier League and the consequent influx of international stars into English football's top flight was hampering the national side.
"In my opinion of course England has to achieve more than it has done recently," he said. "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." — AFP