Patricio Garino: “I’m going to give everything out from myself” 5

Patricio Garino didn’t wait around after signing a contract with Zalgiris Kaunas, and was the first foreigner to come to Lithuania before the upcoming season.

The 27-year-old arrived to Kaunas from Spain on Sunday, and according to all procedures took the COVID-19 test that came out negative.

In his first interview with Zalgiris TV, the newly signed green-and-white talked not only about his travels and first impressions of Kaunas, but also opened up about his recovery from a hefty injury and coach Martin Schiller.

Garino came to Kaunas with his wife and his dog and has already had a chance to see a bit of the city in the last few days.

“We like it here. We came here on Sunday, walked around the city, went to the shopping center. I think it’s a great experience being in a city with history. Lithuania has a lot to offer, but we enjoyed what we saw in Kaunas. We walked for four hours and saw all parts of the old tow, the river, the arena. We’re happy to be here.”

Pato suffered a cruciate ligament injury last season and admitted that he was a bit skeptical of the upcoming season both due to the injury and the ongoing pandemic. But when he received an offer from Zalgiris, he didn’t wait around.

“Due to the virus and my injury, I didn’t expect a lot of offers and looked at everything a bit skeptically, but when Zalgiris reached out to my agent, and coach Martin called me, I felt great. When a coach tells you he wants to see you in his team, and you feel his support, there’s much less to worry about. When an organization like this wants to sign you, you don’t wait around too long.”

Speaking of the coach, Garino revealed that their paths could have crossed even earlier, and that Schiller had a big saying in him coming to Kaunas.

“The coach had a very big impact. He knew me from before and wanted to invite me straight out of college. He knew my abilities and has already coached some of my former teammates.”