Ģirts Karlsons

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Ģirts Karlsons
Personal information
Full nameĢirts Karlsons
Date of birth (1981-06-07) 7 June 1981
Place of birthLiepāja, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Republic of Latvia)
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current clubFree agent
Youth career
Liepājas Metalurgs
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998–2003Liepājas Metalurgs96(40)
2004Shinnik Yaroslavl8(0)
2005Venta6(0)
2005–2007Liepājas Metalurgs65(34)
2008De Graafschap5(0)
2008–2009Liepājas Metalurgs32(24)
2009–2012Inter Baku73(36)
2012-2013Liepājas Metalurgs19(9)
2013Pro Duta19(15)
National team‡
2003–2011Latvia49(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 December 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Ģirts Karlsons (born 7 June 1981 in Liepāja) is a Latvian football striker, who last played for the Indonesian Premier League club Pro Duta.[1]

Club career

As a youth player Karlsons played for his local club FK Liepājas Metalurgs, being taken to the first team in 1998, at the age of 17. He spent the next six seasons with the club, becoming the second top scorer of the Latvian Higher League in 2003 with 26 goals, completing two hat-tricks during the season.[2] All in all he played 96 matches for his local club, scoring 40 goals. After these bright appearances he had impressed clubs abroad, and in January 2004 Karlsons went on a month long trial with the Russian Premier League club Shinnik Yaroslavl. Afterwards he signed a three-year contract with them.[3] However, his spell there wasn't as successful as expected and was very short. After just one season, during which he played only 8 league matches without scoring goals, Karlsons returned to the Latvian Higher League, signing with the newly promoted, ambitious club Venta Kuldiga in 2005.[4] However, the club struggled financially and after just five matches had to let some of their players go, including Karlsons,[5] who returned to his hometown club, Liepājas Metalurgs later that year. He spent the next three seasons there, once again showing great performance. He scored a hat-trick in the 2005 season, and he also scored in the Latvian Cup final on 25 September 2005, which Metalurgs lost 2–1 to Venta Kuldīga.[6] Another hat-trick came in the 2006 season, which Karlsons finished as the second top scorer with 14 goals under his belt. In the Latvian Cup he scored a hat-trick in the 6–1 semi-final victory over Dižvanagi Rēzekne and then scored in the final, which the club won 2–1 over Skonto Riga.[7] In December 2006 Karlsons was named the runner-up of the Latvian Player of the Year Award by the Latvian Football Federation behind the winner Aleksandrs Koļinko, who that time was the first-choice keeper for Rubin Kazan in the Russian Premier League.[8] His contract with Metalurgs expired in July 2007 and it was not renewed. Player was then linked with the English Championship club Bristol City, before going on trial with Southampton.[9] In January 2008 he had a two day trial with Wolverhampton Wanderers.[10] Karlsons then had trials in the Netherlands with Zwolle and De Graafschap, [11] and on 8 February 2008 he signed for De Graafschap, which that time competed in the Dutch Eredivisie.[12] Karlsons returned to Liepājas Metalurgs in the middle of 2008, because of limited game time. After some impressive matches there he attracted interest from several European clubs, but finally settled down in Azerbaijan, signing a contract with Inter Baku in the summer of 2009.[13] The next season he became the champion of Azerbaijan. He scored 8 goals in 19 matches for Inter in his first season there, but the next two weren't that successful anymore and in July 2012 he was released. In August 2012 Karlsons once again returned to Liepājas Metalurgs.[14] The 2012 season saw Karlsons scoring 9 goals in 19 league matches. Even though Metalurgs expressed their interest to keep him at the club, Karlsons chose to continue his career abroad, joining the Indonesian Premier League club Pro Duta in March 2013.[15] On 14 April 2013 he scored his first two goals in a 3-0 league victory over Bontang.[16] Throughout the season Karlsons scored 15 league goals for the club, completing two hat-tricks.[17] He left Pro Duta at the end of his contract in November 2013.

International career

Karlsons played for the Latvia-U21.[18] Karlsons made his first appearance for Latvia national team on 20 December 2003 as a second half substitute against Kuwait in Cyprus, which Latvia lost 2–0.[10] On 28 December 2005 he scored in Latvia's 2–1 win over Oman national football team to reach the final of the King's Cup in Thailand.[19] Latvia won the cup, beating Korea DPR 2–1 in the final on 30 December with Karlsons again scoring.[20] Currently Karlsons has 49 international caps under his belt, having scored 9 goals.[21] He played his last international game on 9 February 2011, a 2-1 victory in a friendly match against Bolivia, coming on as a late substitute.[22] Since then Karlsons hasn't been called up to the national team anymore.

Honours

  • FK Liepājas Metalurgs
    • Virslīga champion (2): 2005, 2009
    • Virslīga runner-up (5): 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007
    • Latvian Cup winner (1): 2006
    • Baltic League winner (1): 2007
  • Individual
    • CIS Cup top socrer (1): 2011
    • Latvian Higher League best forward (1): 2006
    • Baltic League top scorer (1): 2007

References

  1. ↑ http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/girts-karlsons/profil/spieler_25800.html
  2. ↑ "Latvia 2003". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  3. ↑ "Shinnik challenge for Latvian striker". UEFA. 2004-04-02. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  4. ↑ "Karlsons quits Russia for Venta". UEFA. 2005-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  5. ↑ "Venta enter the twilight zone". UEFA. 2005-05-13. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  6. ↑ "Latvia 2005". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2006-03-04. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  7. ↑ "Latvia 2006". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  8. ↑ "Kolinko given Latvian honour". UEFA. 2006-12-04. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  9. ↑ "Wolves take Latvian on trial". Express & Star. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Wolves trial Latvian striker: McCarthy takes a closer look at Karlsons". Sky Sports. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  11. ↑ "FC Zwolle test opnieuw aanvaller uit Letland" (in Dutch). FC Zwolle. 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  12. ↑ "Spits Karlsons naar De Graafschap" (in Dutch). Sp!ts. 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  13. ↑ http://www.liepajniekiem.lv/lat/sports/futbols/2009/08/03/karlsons-speles-baku--inter-/
  14. ↑ http://www.skliepajasmetalurgs.lv/2012/08/karlsons-atgriezas-liepaja/
  15. ↑ http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/legionari/08032013-cekulajevs_karjeru_turpinas_indonezija
  16. ↑ http://www.futbol24.com/team/Indonesia/Pro-Duta-FC/results/#statTR-Page=0
  17. ↑ http://int.soccerway.com/players/girts-karlsons/24314/
  18. ↑ "Late strike saves Sweden". UEFA. 2003-10-10. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  19. ↑ "Last-gasp Latvia earn final date". UEFA. 2005-12-28. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  20. ↑ "Latvia claim royal reward". UEFA. 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  21. ↑ http://www.lff.lv/lv/aizlase/speletaji/
  22. ↑ http://www.lff.lv/lv/latvijasizlases/nacionala/speles/2011/bolivia-latvia/

External links

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