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

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 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 did a good season in Hadjuk, scoring 5 goals in 18 appearances and made some key roles in team's victory. In early 2008 Maris received an injury and haven't been on the field till the loan term with HNK Hajduk Split has been expired. Currently on loan tern with Spanish side Celta de Vigo for 2008-2009 season.

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 23 goals. Top Latvian scorer for Fifa World Cup 2006 Qualification and Euro 2008 Qualification.

International goals

Māris Verpakovskis: International Goals

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

Honours

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

Interesting facts

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.

Career statistics

1996 Baltika Liepāja Higher League 6 0 1997 Liepājas Metalurgs Higher League 6 0 1998 15 2 1999 21 4 2000 16 3 2001 Skonto Higher League 27 10 2002 25 9 2003 25 22 2003-04 Dynamo Kyiv Premier League 11 5 2004-05 23 4 2005-06 9 1 2006-07 6 1 2006-07 Getafe La Liga 13 1 2007-08 Hajduk Split Prva HNL 18 5 2008-09 Dynamo Kyiv Premier League 141 50 49 11 13 1 15 5 218 67

References

External links

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