Dzintars Zirnis

Dzintars Zirnis (born 25 April 1977 in Riga) is a Latvian former football defender. He last played for Latvian First League club FK 1625 Liepāja. For almost his entire career, Zirnis played for FK Liepājas Metalurgs in the Latvian Higher League, making his debut in 1997 and playing there until 2013. He was also a member of Latvia national football team.

Dzintars Zirnis
Zirnis playing for FK Liepājas Metalurgs
Personal information
Full name Dzintars Zirnis
Date of birth (1977-04-25) 25 April 1977
Place of birth Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Republic of Latvia)
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 1625 Liepāja
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996 Pārdaugava Rīga 0 (0)
1997–2013 Liepājas Metalurgs 403 (7)
2015 Olaine 0 (0)
2015– 1625 Liepāja 0 (0)
National team‡
1997–2010 Latvia 68 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 June 2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 January 2015

Club career

Zirnis played for FK Pārdaugava Rīga before joining FK Liepājas Metalurgs in 1997. In September 2004 he played in the UEFA Cup for Metalurgs in which the club beat Faroe Islands club, B36 Tórshavn 11–2 over two legs in the first qualifying round and then beat the Swedish Allsvenskan club Östers IF in the second qualifying round. Metalurgs were beaten by the German Bundesliga club FC Schalke 04 in the first round, 9–1 over two legs.[1] On 1 October 2005 Zirnis was a part of the Metalurgs team that beat FK Ventspils 5–1 to seal the club's first ever Latvian Higher League title. Zirnis ended his professional career after the 2013 Latvian Higher League season, having played 403 league matches and scored 7 goals. He is one of the most capped players in the history of the Latvian top tier championship behind his ex-teammate Viktors Spole and Igors Korabļovs.[2]

International career

Zirnis made his debut for Latvia national football team on 19 August 1997 in a 0–0 draw with Azerbaijan.[3] In November 2003 he was a part of the Latvian team that beat Turkey over two legs to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2004 finals, for the first time qualifying for a major international tournament.[4] and played at the finals in 2004. Zirnis was sent off in the Baltic Cup final against Lithuania in Kaunas on 22 May 2005.[5] On 17 November 2007 he scored an own goal to give Liechtenstein the lead in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group F match which Latvia eventually won 4–1.[6] Zirnis played 68 international matches for Latvia.

Honours

Club

References
  1. Korolev, Michael (5 October 2005). "The miracle man of Metalurgs". UEFA. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  2. "Korabļovs: "Vēlos sasniegt 500 spēļu robežu"". Sportacentrs.com. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. "Dzintars Zirnis". wldcup.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  4. "Joyful Latvia make history". UEFA. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  5. Gimbutas, Kestutis (22 May 2005). "Lithuania lift Baltic Cup". UEFA. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  6. "Latvia save best till last". UEFA. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
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