Māris Verpakovskis
Verpakovskis playing for Latvia in 2011
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Māris Verpakovskis | ||
| Date of birth | 15 October 1979 | ||
| Place of birth |
Liepāja, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Latvia) |
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| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1996 | FK Baltika | 3 | (0) |
| 1996–2001 | FK Liepājas Metalurgs | 59 | (10) |
| 2001–2003 | Skonto FC | 77 | (41) |
| 2003–2011 | Dynamo Kyiv | 49 | (11) |
| 2007 | → Getafe (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | → Hajduk Split (loan) | 18 | (5) |
| 2008 | → Celta de Vigo (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | → Ergotelis (loan) | 47 | (7) |
| 2011–2013 | FC Baku | 27 | (3) |
| 2013–2014 | Ergotelis | 28 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | FK Liepāja | 9 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999–2014 | Latvia | 104 | (29) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 January 2015. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 January 2015 |
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Māris Verpakovskis (born 15 October 1979 in Liepāja), is a retired Latvian footballer. As of 2016, he is the only Latvian player to score at the end stage of a major international football tournament.
Verpakovskis started his career in the Latvian club FK Liepājas Metalurgs, for which he played from 1995 till 2001 and scored 10 goals in 59 appearances. In 2001 Verpakovskis joined another Latvian side, Skonto Riga, where he scored 41 goals in 77 appearances. This time of period is known for being the peak of Verpakovskis's career. His excellent performance was being recognized by many top European clubs, and in the late 2003 he signed a contract with the Ukrainian top team Dynamo Kyiv.
Soon after joining, Verpakovskis quickly earned his spot in starting 11, scoring 5 goals in 11 appearances. He scored his first UEFA Champions League goal against the Turkish club Trabzonspor, which helped Dynamo Kyiv qualify for the next round and later Verpakovskis also scored a goal against Real Madrid in the group stage, helping to earn a 2:2 draw in Kiev. Verpakovskis scored a total of 3 goals in the Champions League. After being honored as the 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. From that time Verpakovkis had been loaned out for several seasons in a row, as his contract with Dynamo was still active.
In 2007 Verpakovskis made a promising move to Spain, after he was signed on a loan deal by Getafe. However, due to a high competition for a place in the starting line-up, Verpakovskis didn't get a chance to show his full brilliance and scored 1 goal in 13 appearances. Right after returning from Spain, Verpakovskis was loaned to HNK Hajduk Split from Croatia, along with his Dynamo team-mates Florin Cernat and Goran Sablić. Verpakovskis had a good season in Hajduk, scoring 5 goals in 18 appearances and played the key role in team's victories. In early 2008 he suffered an injury and did not play for the remaining time of his loan at HNK Hajduk Split. He made a short comeback to Kiev during the summer of 2008. Verpakovskis was on a loan term with Spanish side Celta de Vigo for the 2008–2009 season, playing 8 league matches and scoring no goals, as he couldn't prove himself there due to the limited game time. In 2009, Verpakovskis had to extend his contract with Dynamo Kiev for two years and the Greek Super League club Ergotelis signed him on a two-year loan. During those 2 years Verpakovskis played 46 league games and scored 7 goals for the club. After the season, in 2011, his loan spell ended and he returned to Kiev.
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