Arminas Narbekovas (born 28 January 1965 in
Gargždai
Gargždai () is a city in western Lithuania located in Klaipėda County. The Minija River flows through the city.John S. Jaffer ShtetLinks: Gargzdai (Gorzd), LithuaniaJewishGen, Inc., the Home of Jewish Genealogy. Accessed June 18, 2011. Gargždai ...
) is a former
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player. In 2003, he was selected by
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
as his country's
Golden Player, the greatest player of the past 50 years.
Personal life
Arminas Narbekovas was born to a
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different father Andrey Narbekov and a
Lithuanian mother.
Career
Narbekovas made his debut in 1983 with Žalgiris Vilnius, Lithuania's sole representative in the
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991.
The professional top level ...
, at the age of 18. In 1987, he finished second in league scoring with 16 goals while leading his club to a third-place finish, their best in history. Zalgiris would then participate in the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
for the first time, losing to
Austria Vienna
Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...
.
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
would become Narbekovas' destination after Lithuanian players were allowed to move abroad. Arminas moved there in 1990 after a short stint with
Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москв ...
, since Lithuania was not a part of
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
yet and players from its clubs were not permitted to transfer. Narbekovas would spend the rest of his club career in Austria, with Austria Vienna until 1995 and then with
Admira Wacker and a number of other lower division clubs.
International career
Although he never received a FIFA-sanctioned cap for the
USSR national team, he did play for them, and win the gold medal, at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
. Narbekovas scored two goals in the tournament, including an
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
one in the semifinals against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, helping the Soviets to a 3–2 victory. Also, he represented USSR in
1987 Summer Universiade
The 1987 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIV Summer Universiade, took place in Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. It involved participants from 111 countries and over 6,000 individual sportspersons and members of teams.
Infrastructural cha ...
. Arminas first played for
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
in its first ever game as a newly independent country, on 27 May 1990 against
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and scored the first goal in the 2–2 tie. Unfortunately, injuries limited his career to just 13 caps and four goals for his country.
Honours
Club
Austria Wien
*
Austrian Football Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...
(3): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93
*
Austrian Cup
The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...
(2): 1991–92, 1993–94
International
*
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
**Gold medal:
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
*
Universiade
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
**Gold medal:
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
Individual
*
Lithuanian Player of the Year: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
* UEFA Jubilee Awards Lithuanian
Golden Player representative
* Summer Universiade: 1987 top scorer
International goals
Lithuania
Soviet Union Olympic team
Honours
Narbekovas was named Lithuania's footballer of the year four times, from 1985 to 1988. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's jubilee, he was selected by the
Lithuanian Football Federation
The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) ( lt, Lietuvos futbolo federacija) is the governing body of football in Lithuania. The Federation is responsible for football development in the country and for the national teams, including the Lithuania ...
as the country's
Golden Player – the greatest player of the last 50 years.
Golden Players take centre stage
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narbekovas, Arminas
Lithuanian footballers
Lithuania international footballers
UEFA Golden Players
FK Žalgiris players
FK Žalgiris managers
Soviet footballers
Soviet expatriate footballers
Soviet Top League players
FC Lokomotiv Moscow players
Olympic footballers of the Soviet Union
Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Expatriate footballers in Austria
Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Austria
Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Austria
FK Austria Wien players
FC Admira Wacker Mödling players
1965 births
Living people
Olympic medalists in football
People from Gargždai
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Association football midfielders
Lithuanian football managers
FK Atlantas managers
FK Banga Gargždai managers
Lithuanian people of Russian descent
Volga Tatar people