sport, local-sport,

The Devonport Strikers have filled the second of their three visa places in the squad for the upcoming NPL Tasmania season with the signing of Lithuanian Gediminas Kruša. A versatile midfielder capable of playing out wide or central, Kruša, 27, played professionally in Poland, Estonia and his native Lithuania, as well as representing his country at under 17 and under 19 level. Kruša said he was looking for a new soccer opportunity after years of playing in the same leagues and against the same players. “It was nearly a routine, playing all on my years in Lithuania except for two years where I played in Poland and Estonia,” Kruša said. “I was really tired of it, everybody knew me and I knew everybody with the teams and players, so I wanted to try something different.” With the thirst to try to something different, Australia became a location of interest for him. “I was very hungry for something new and I had heard that Australia that it was a beautiful country, but I didn’t know about soccer here so I googled what the football level was here. “I thought maybe it would be interesting to come to the NPL, it is not a bad level although I haven’t tried it and I want show what I can do here.” Through moving the Lithuanian and Estonian first division and the Polish second tier, Kruša had experienced a wide range of coaches and systems. The 27-year-old said he was a fan of a technical, structured system and was looking forward to playing in Chris Gallo’s system. “I like to play with the ball at my feet, originally I am a centre midfielder with the ability to play number eight and number 10, with the ability to keep possession. “I love to play techinical football on the ground, the coach likes to play the same style with the many good players here, so I look forward to the season.” Devonport Strikers president Rod Andrews said the process of finding Kruša was very unusual. “Ged sent his resume to the club and we assume he did to many other clubs, which is not usual and the standard of offers range,” Andrews said. “You get professional players with an expectation we can’t meet, we were lucky that Chris, in a full time position could go through Ged’s resume and the video sent through. “We saw the football he played, the standard he played in and we facetimed and chatted over four to six weeks and got things sorted.” Andrews believed the club could have their final import position filled in the coming weeks.

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