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Chosen son wary of miracle talk

José Couceiro is making no promises as FBK Kaunas look to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Aalborg BK, saying: "I'm not Jesus Christ even though my initials are JC."

José Couceiro is making no promises as FBK Kaunas look to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Aalborg BK, saying: "I'm not Jesus Christ even though my initials are JC."

Rangers result
The Lithuanian side created one of the the biggest upsets in UEFA Champions League history as they knocked out Rangers FC in the second qualifying round, but their hopes of reaching the group stage were dealt a substantial blow as they lost to AaB in Denmark last week. The tie concludes in Kaunas on Wednesday. Former FC Porto and Portugal Under-21 coach Couceiro has worked wonders in the month since his arrival in Lithuania, remedying the perceived problems with his side's tactical knowledge in quick time, but he accepted that a place in the group stage might be a bridge too far for Kaunas. "I'm not Jesus Christ even though my initials are JC," joked the 45-year-old.

Lithuania job
He may not be the son of God, but Couceiro is certainly being feted as a footballing messiah in the Baltic nation. The Lithuanian Football Federation saw enough in the first few weeks of his tenure at Kaunas to hire him to coach the national team in conjunction with his club commitments, replacing Algimantas Liubinskas who made the unusual move from football into politics. "There are a lot of quality players in Lithuania," said Couceiro, the country's first foreign coach since becoming a UEFA member nation in 1992. "It will be interesting to work with them." He is already working with many of the nation's top players at Kaunas, who remain top of the A Lyga, albeit level on points with FK Sūduva and FK Ekranas.

'Such quality'
"I've never worked under the guidance of a manager with such quality," said Kaunas vice-captain Nerijus Radžius. "He immediately earned the players' trust." Couceiro must now get Kaunas to believe that they can recover at home against AaB. "We played badly and the result was poor," he said of the first leg. "But everything is not lost. We still have a chance to reach the group stage."