Artis Lazdiņš

Artis Lazdiņš (born 3 May 1986) is a Latvian footballer, currently playing for FK Jelgava in the Latvian Higher League. He is also a member of Latvia national football team.

Artis Lazdiņš
Lazdiņš after Jelgava game against Slovan Bratislava in 2016
Personal information
Full name Artis Lazdiņš
Date of birth (1986-05-03) 3 May 1986
Place of birth Limbaži, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Republic of Latvia)
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FK Jelgava
Number 28
Youth career
1994–1997 FK Limbaži
1997–2000 FK Auda
2000–2004 Chernomorets-USA
2004–2005 FK Auda
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 FK Ventspils 41 (1)
2010–2012 FK Jelgava 65 (2)
2012–2013 Piast Gliwice 29 (1)
2014– FK Jelgava 51 (1)
National team‡
2004–2005 Latvia U-19 5 (0)
2006–2007 Latvia U-21 10 (0)
2010– Latvia 29 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 October 2017
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 24 October 2017

Club career

Early career

Artis Lazdiņš started playing football in his early childhood being taken to trainings to his local team FK Limbaži (coach : Valdis Matīss) by his father. In 2000 his family decided to move to the USA.[1] Artis then continued playing football in an American-Ukrainian football (soccer) academy Chornomorets-USA in NYC. In 2004, after graduating from the Julia Richman High School,[2] he returned to Latvia and played for FK Auda in Riga until the end of 2005.

FK Ventspils

In 2006 Lazdiņš was signed by FK Ventspils. In his first season in Ventspils Lazdiņš played for the reserve team and did not take part in the first-team action. In 2007 Lazdiņš had 3 appearances, not finding the net. In the next 2 years the number of appearances grew to 12 and 18, respectively. Lazdiņš became the champion of Latvia with FK Ventspils three times in a row - from 2006 to 2008. He also participated in the UEFA Europa League group stages in 2009. However, in 2009 the team's managers changed and Lazdiņš was no more needed within the squad, with his contract being terminated by a mutual agreement.

FK Jelgava

After leaving Ventspils Lazdiņš started looking for a club abroad but was then handed an offer by the Latvian Virsliga newcomers FK Jelgava. He signed a contract for one season and soon after joining became a first eleven player. In his first season there he played 24 matches and also managed to win the Latvian Cup.[3] In January 2011 Lazdiņš extended his contract with FK Jelgava for another season.[4] In August 2011 he went on trial with the Danish team Randers but did not stay with them, returning to Jelgava.[5] All in all, Lazdiņš played 24 matches, scoring 2 goals in the 2011 season. The 2012 season started badly for Jelgava and having played 15 matches, Lazdiņš used the release clause of his contract in July 2012.

Piast Gliwice

In August 2012 Lazdiņš went on trial with the Polish Ekstraklasa club Piast Gliwice and signed a contract with them in September 2012.[6] He scored his first goal for the club on 30 March 2013 in a 1-1 league match draw against Jagiellonia Białystok.[7] The 2012-13 season, which was the debut season for Piast since the return to the Ekstraklasa, saw the club finish the league in the 4th position of the table, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time in the club's history.[8] Lazdiņš participated in the second leg of the 2nd qualifying round, when Piast played a 2–2 draw against the Azerbaijani club Qarabağ.[9] In his second season with Piast Lazdiņš gradually lost his place in the starting line-up, playing just 7 league and 2 cup matches for the club.

Return to FK Jelgava

On 26 March 2014 the return of Artis Lazdiņš was officially confirmed by his former club FK Jelgava.[10] Despite suffering from a long-term injury in the second half of the season, Lazdiņš participated in 18 league matches as well as the UEFA Europa League qualifiers, ceding to the Norwegian side Rosenborg over two legs in the first qualifying round of the tournament.[11] He helped Jelgava win the Latvian Cup and reach bronze medals in the domestic championship for the first time in the club's history.[12]

International career

Lazdiņš was a member of Latvia U-19 and Latvia U-21 football teams, being called up to the senior side for the Baltic Cup matches in 2010. He made his international debut in the second match of the tournament against Estonia on 19 June 2010.[13] He then came on as a substitute, replacing Juris Laizāns. In 2012 Lazdiņš helped Latvia win the Baltic Cup, beating Finland in the final.[14] Latvia won the Baltic Cup for the second time in a row in May 2014, beating Lithuania in the final.[15] As of March 2015, Lazdiņš has played 21 matches for Latvia, scoring no goals yet.[16]

Honours

FK Ventspils
  • Latvian champion
    • 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Latvian Cup winner
    • 2007

FK Jelgava
  • Latvian Cup winner
    • 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016

Latvia
  • Baltic Cup winner
    • 2012, 2014

Personal life

According to fkjelgava.lv, Lazdiņš loves cinema and also has a Twitter account. His native language is Latvian, but he also speaks English fluently, Russian well and German at a basic level. His aim in football is to improve and reach career heights.[17]

References
  1. "Limbažu amerikānis pietur Jelgavā". Sporto.lv. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  2. "HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER NOTEBOOK / Richman Earns New Respect". newsday.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. http://www.hekthatman.com/2017/05/rossi-pedrosa-sama-berbahayanya-seperti-marquez-dan-vinales.html%5B%5D
  6. "Lazdiņš karjeru turpinās Polijas augstākajā līgā". Sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  7. "Lazdiņam vārti, Gorkšam uzvara, Rakels atkal nopelna pendeli (+video)". sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. "Lazdiņš palīdz "Piast" pirmo reizi kluba vēsturē tikt Eirokausos". sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  9. UEFA.com. "UEFA Europa League - Piast-Qarabağ". UEFA.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2015/matches/round=2000583/match=2014699/prematch/player-lists/index.html
  12. ""Jelgavas" futbolisti otro reizi vēsturē izcīna Latvijas kausu". tvnet.lv. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  13. "Latvijas Futbola federācija". www.lff.lv. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  14. "Latvijas Futbola federācija". www.lff.lv. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  15. "Latvijas futbola izlase finālā uzvar Lietuvu un nosargā Baltijas kausu". kasjauns.lv. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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