The achievement of 49-year-old S. Jakirovičius is considered a real feat. Lowly Hull City have been seen as one of the outsiders in the Championship this season, but managed to defy all predictions.
“The only task I was given was to keep Hull City in League Two. I’m sorry, I got confused because we’re going up!” – S. Jakirovičius ironically triumphed in the selection final after Hull City’s victory.
Nicknamed the Tigers, they finished sixth in the Championship (the lowest place to qualify for the play-offs) but were beaten 2-0 by Millwall in the semi-finals and beaten 1-0 by Middlesbrough in the final.
Even more impressively, Hull City achieved this despite having a new transfer ban (it was applied to the Tigers due to a late fee for Birmingham’s Aston Villa).
“We had (Arbëris) Hoxha from Dinamo Zagreb in our sights, but we couldn’t call him because of the ban. We also targeted Roka Pukšta from Hajduk Split and Toni Fruka from Rijeka, but for the same reason they didn’t come,” S. Jakirović said while talking to Sportske Novosti.
He soon added that the aforementioned players could become Hull City’s rookies in the Premier League as well: “I believe in them, they are great footballers. I know A. Hoxha from the days when I myself coached at Dynamo.
R. Pukštas has fantastic potential, and T. Frukas is amazing at the point of attack. They’ll all definitely be in our lists and discussions, but it’s still a little too early to draw conclusions. We have to see how much money we will have and who we can invite.”
Vida Press photo/Rokas Pukštas (in the middle)
6 million R. Pukštas, who is valued at 100,000 euros, became the vice-champion of Croatia this year with the Hajduk club. The 21-year-old footballer played 31 games in the Croatian league, scoring 9 goals and making 4 assists.
His contract with the Split team is valid until the summer of 2027.
Understand instantly
- 15 minutes reminds that both of Roko’s parents are Lithuanians, well-known national track and field athletes, who emigrated to the USA. Father Mindaugas, a former marathoner, represented Lithuania at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games (ranked 74th), and mother Živilė is a multiple Lithuanian triple jump champion.
- R. Pukštas has both a Lithuanian and a US passport. True, for now they choose to represent the USA. It should be noted that the footballer has only played for the US youth national team so far (he was also its captain), so he could theoretically change his choice and represent Lithuania in men’s football.
R. Pukštas hoped to get into the USA men’s national team for the upcoming World Championship, but he did not get the attention of coach Mauricio Pochettino.
It is true that he will represent the USA youth (under 21) national team, which will play two friendly matches against his peers from Ukraine (June 5) and Uzbekistan (June 8).
