Māris Verpakovskis

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Māris Verpakovskis
Personal information
Date of birth	October 15, 1979 (1979-10-15) (age 30)
Place of birth	Liepāja, Latvia, USSR (now Republic of Latvia)
Height	173 cm
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Ergotelis
Number	9
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1996 1996–2000 2000–2003 2003 2007 2007–2008 2008 2009–	FK Baltika FK Liepājas Metalurgs Skonto FC Dynamo Kyiv → Getafe (loan) → Hajduk Split (loan) → Celta de Vigo (loan) Ergotelis	13 (3) 62 (23) 77 (51) 47 (18) 13 (1) 18 (5) 9 (0) 12 (3)
National team2
1999–	Latvia	80 (26)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 6, 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of October 15, 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Māris Verpakovskis (born October 15, 1979 Liepāja Latvia) is a striker currently playing for Greek club Ergotelis and the Latvia national football team.

[edit] Club career

Maris Verpakovskis started his career in Latvian club FK Liepājas Metalurgs, for which he played from 1995 till 2001 and scored 10 goals in 59 appearances. In 2001 Maris joined another Latvian side, Skonto FC, where he scored 41 goals goals in 77 appearances. This time of period is known for being a peak of Verpakovskis career. His excellent performance has been recognized by many top European clubs, and in late 2003 he signed a contract with Ukrainian top team Dynamo Kyiv. Maris quickly earned his spot in starting 11, scoring 5 goals in 11 appearances. Maris Verpakovskis scored his first Champion League goal against Turkish club Trabzonspor, which helped Dynamo qualify to the next round and later Maris scored a goal against Real Madrid in group stage, helping to earn 2:2 draw in Kyiv. Verpakovskis scored a total of 3 goals in Champion League. After being honored as Dynamo Kyiv's best player of 2004 by team fans his career slowly started to decline, majorly due to a conflict with Dynamo's former coach Yozhef Sabo. In 2007 Verpakovskis made a promising move to Spain, after he has been signed on loan by Getafe CF. However, due to a high competition for a place in starting line up, Maris never got a chance to show his full brilliance and later been loaned by HNK Hajduk Split from Croatia, along with his Dynamo team-mates Florin Cernat and Goran Sablic. Verpakovskis had a good season in Hadjuk, scoring 5 goals in 18 appearances and made some key roles in team's victory. In early 2008 Maris suffered an injury and didn't play for the remainder of his time on loan with HNK Hajduk Split. He made a short comeback to Kyiv during the Summer of 2008. He was on loan term with Spanish side Celta de Vigo for the 2008-2009 season. In 2009, Maris extended a contract with Kiev for two years and Ergotelis signed him on a two-year loan.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Skonto FC

• Latvian League
  • 2001, 2002

• Latvian Cup
  • 2001, 2002

[edit] FC Dynamo Kiev

• Ukrainian Premier League
  • 2004

• Ukrainian Cup
  • 2005, 2006

[edit] National Team

• Baltic Cup
  • 2001

[edit] International career

He rose to international prominence as the highest goalscorer for Latvia in their successful Euro 2004 qualification campaign, with 6 goals in 10 matches. He scored once for Latvia in Euro 2004 and nearly scored what would have been the goal of the tournament against Germany, dribbling on a weaving run from the half way line and beating four German players. Verpakovskis is regarded as the most popular Latvian footballer having surpassed Marian Pahars as his country's most recognisable player. He is currently the leading all time top goal scorer for Latvia, with 26 goals (As of October 10, 2009). Top Latvian scorer for Fifa World Cup 2006 Qualification and Euro 2008 Qualification and Fifa World Cup 2010 Qualification.^[1]

[edit] International goals

Māris Verpakovskis: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	June 9, 1999	Athens, Greece	Greece	0 - 1	1 - 2	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifying
2.	February 28, 2001	Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0 - 2	0 - 2	Friendly
3.	July 3, 2001	Riga, Latvia	Estonia	1 - 0	3 - 1	Baltic Cup 2001
4.	August 21, 2002	Riga, Latvia	Belarus	1 - 1	2 - 4	Friendly
5.	June 7, 2003	Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	0 - 1	3 - 1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
6.	September 10, 2003	Riga, Latvia	Hungary	1 - 0	3 - 1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
7.	September 10, 2003	Riga, Latvia	Hungary	3 - 0	3 - 1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
8.	October 11, 2003	Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	0 - 1	0 - 1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
9.	November 15, 2003	Riga, Latvia	Turkey	1 - 0	1 - 0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
10.	November 19, 2003	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	2 - 2	2 - 2	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualifying
11.	March 31, 2004	Celje, Slovenia	Slovenia	0 - 1	0 - 1	Friendly
12.	June 6, 2004	Riga, Latvia	Azerbaijan	1 - 0	2 - 2	Friendly
13.	June 15, 2004	Aveiro, Portugal	Czech Republic	0 - 1	2 - 1	UEFA Euro 2004
14.	September 8, 2004	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0 - 1	3 - 4	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
15.	October 9, 2004	Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	0 - 1	4 - 1	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
16.	November 17, 2004	Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0 - 1	0 - 3	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
17.	March 30, 2005	Riga, Latvia	Luxembourg	3 - 0	4 - 0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
18.	March 30, 2005	Riga, Latvia	Luxembourg	4 - 0	4 - 0	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying
19.	October 7, 2006	Riga, Latvia	Iceland	2 - 0	4 - 0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
20.	October 7, 2006	Riga, Latvia	Iceland	3 - 0	4 - 0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
21.	October 13, 2007	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland	1 - 3	2 - 4	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
22.	October 13, 2007	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland	1 - 4	2 - 4	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
23.	November 17, 2007	Riga, Latvia	Liechtenstein	2 - 1	4 - 1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
24.	April 1, 2009	Riga, Latvia	Luxembourg	2 - 0	2 - 0	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying
25.	October 10, 2009	Athens, Greece	Greece	1 - 1	5 - 2	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying
26.	October 10, 2009	Athens, Greece	Greece	1 - 2	5 - 2	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying

[edit] Personal Honours

Verpakovskis has been named Latvian Man Of The Year in 2003-2004.

[edit] Interesting facts

1) Maris Verpakovskis worked as a football commentator for Latvian television during Euro 2008 matches. He remarked this being a great experience and not denying the fact that he might work as a commentator on Ukrainian TV as well. Maris commentated first 4 matches of a tournament.

2) In 2006-2007 Champion League 2nd Qualifying round Maris (as a player of Dynamo) faced against his former team FK Liepājas Metalurgs. Dynamo won both games with the scores 1:4 and 4:0. Maris scored the third goal for Dynamo in Liepājas, helping his team to earn a victory. Games were held on July 26-th and on August 2-nd. This was his final European goal as of July 13, 2009.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Euro 2008 squad details
• Verpakovskis in Primero
• Māris Verpakovskis profile at Nogometni Magazin (Croatian)

v • d • e Latvia squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Koļinko • 2 Stepanovs • 3 Astafjevs • 4 Zemļinskis • 5 Laizāns • 6 Blagonadeždins • 7 Isakovs • 8 Bleidelis  • 9 Verpakovskis • 10 Rubins • 11 Prohorenkovs • 12 Piedels • 13 Pučinsks • 14 Lobaņovs • 15 Smirnovs • 16 Zirnis • 17 Pahars • 18 Korabļovs • 19 Štolcers • 20 Pavlovs • 21 Miholaps • 22 Zakreševskis • 23 Rimkus • Coach: Starkovs