Artjoms Rudņevs (born 13 January 1988) is a Latvian former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a
striker for
Daugava Daugavpils in his home country, for
Zalaegerszegi TE
Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet Football Club (), commonly known as Zalaegerszegi TE, Zalaegerszeg or ZTE, is a football club from the city of Zalaegerszeg in Hungary. Zalaegerszeg has won one Hungarian League title in 2002.
History
ZTE traces it ...
in Hungary, for
Lech Poznań in Poland, and for
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
clubs
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
,
Hannover 96, and
1. FC Köln. At international level, he represented the
Latvia national team.
Club career
Early career and ZTE
Rudņevs started his career with his local club
FC Daugava
FC Daugava was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium, in the city of Daugavpils. They lastly played in the Latvian Second League in 2015. They were one of two clubs with the name ''Daugava'' and should not be confused with ...
in
Daugavpils, where he played until February 2009, when he signed a contract with the Hungarian club
Zalaegerszegi TE
Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet Football Club (), commonly known as Zalaegerszegi TE, Zalaegerszeg or ZTE, is a football club from the city of Zalaegerszeg in Hungary. Zalaegerszeg has won one Hungarian League title in 2002.
History
ZTE traces it ...
. However, the previous contract with Daugava was still active, so
FIFA was involved in resolving the conflict. In May 2009, he made his debut in Hungary, where he played for three seasons, scoring 20 goals in 30 league matches.
Lech Poznań
In July 2010, rumors circulated that the
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
club
Lech Poznań were interested in signing him. These rumors were subsequently confirmed and Rudņevs joined the club on trial. After a successful trial at the club and after passing the medical tests, Lech started talks with ZTE regarding a permanent transfer. The clubs initially could not agree on the transfer fee and, when it was finally decided, the Polish team was unable to negotiate personal terms with Rudnevs. It seemed that the talks were over but in August, after Rudņevs had scored two goals in the season opener, Lech reopened discussions. This time talks were successful and Rudņevs signed a four-year contract with the Polish side.
2010–11 season
He scored in his debut for Lech Poznań against
Widzew Łódź
RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds).
Histor ...
. He added three more goals in five consecutive matches, the last of these the winning goal on 11 September 2010. Just five days later he scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
against
Juventus in the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
, the first goal a coolly slotted penalty, the second a scissors kick from three yards out, and the third a long-range equalizer deep into injury time. Rudņevs stated that it was "the best match of his career so far".
By the end of the Polish
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
season, Rudņevs managed to score 11 goals in 27 matches to finish fourth in the league. On 1 December 2010, he scored yet again against Juventus, saying afterwards that Juventus' goalkeeper
Alexander Manninger
Alexander Manninger (born 4 June 1977) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played internationally for the Austria national team on 33 occasions, including at UEFA Euro 2008, and has represented football ...
was his "favourite goalkeeper to play against". The match ended 1–1, a result that allowed Lech to progress to the next round, and eliminated Juventus. In the first match against
SC Braga
Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portugues ...
in the last 16 of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
, Rudņevs scored a goal as Lech won 1–0. However, in the second match Lech lost 0–2 and were knocked out of the Europa League. With five goals in the Europa League, Rudņevs became the fourth top scorer, sharing this achievement with four other players.
2011–12 season
By December 2011, Rudnevs was the Polish league's leading marksman, having scored 18 goals in 17 league matches. Rudņevs was named the best player of 2011 in the
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
by the Polish Footballers' Association. Rudņevs finished the season with a league-leading 22 goals in 29 matches. On 8 May 2012, the German
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
team
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
agreed on a transfer at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 11 May, the transfer was officially confirmed by both clubs.
Hamburger SV
In the 2012–13 season, Rudņevs became the first Latvian football player in the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
.
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
started the season with three consecutive losses with Rudņevs gaining only one assist. Rudņevs scored his first goal in the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
on 26 September 2012 in a 2–2 draw against
Borussia Mönchengladbach. In his first season with Hamburg Rudņevs appeared in 34 league matches, scored 12 goals with four assists, finishing as Hamburg's joint top scorer alongside
Son Heung-Min
Son Heung-min ( ko, 손흥민; ; born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the South Korea national team. Considered one of the best forwards i ...
, who also netted 12 times. However, his form dropped, and Rudņevs lost his place in the starting eleven early in the
2013–14 Bundesliga
The 2013–14 Bundesliga was the 51st season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 9 August 2013 and the final matchday was on 10 May 2014. The winter break started on 23 December 2013 and ended on 24 January 2 ...
season.
1. FC Köln
On 15 June 2016, it was announced that Rudņevs had joined
1. FC Köln on a free transfer. On 29 September 2017, the club announced it had agreed to terminate Rudnev's contract and that he would end his career.
International career
Rudņevs was first called up to the national side on 12 November 2008 for the friendly match against
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. He started this match in the first eleven. Rudņevs also played for the U-21 side. He was called up to the national side again in January 2010 for the friendly match against
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
. Rudņevs started the
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
qualifying matches in the first eleven alongside
Māris Verpakovskis
Māris Verpakovskis (born 15 October 1979), is a Latvian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Latvia national team at UEFA Euro 2004 and is the only Latvian player to score at the end stage of a major int ...
, putting
Ģirts Karlsons
Ģirts Karlsons (born 7 June 1981) is a Latvian football forward, who most recently played for the Latvian Higher League club FK Liepāja.
Club career
As a youth player Karlsons played for his local club FK Liepājas Metalurgs, being taken to ...
on the bench. On 7 October 2011, he scored his first international goal in the 2–0 victory over Malta in a Euro 2012 qualifying match.
Personal life and controversy
Rudņevs is married and has a daughter born in 2011.
Rudņevs provoked controversy in his native Latvia when he signed for Poznan and had his name printed "Rudnev" on the shirt, indicating his Russian ethnicity. He also drew the ire of his national team captain,
Kaspars Gorkšs
Kaspars Gorkšs (born 6 November 1981) is a Latvian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gorkšs was also the captain of the Latvian national team. From 2018 to 2019 Gorkšs served as president of the Latvian Football Feder ...
, when he stated that he would not learn the Latvian language in addition to Russian. Gorkšs wrote an open letter criticizing Rudņevs for the statement.
Career statistics
Club
International goals
:''Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rudņevs goal''.
Honours
Club
Daugavpils Daugava
*
Latvian Cup
The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Game Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company Wil ...
: 2008
Zalaegerszegi TE
*
Hungarian Cup
The Hungarian Cup ( hu, Magyar Kupa) is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association, the ''Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség,'' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of the Hungarian ...
runner-up: 2010
Lech Poznań
*
Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...
runner-up: 2011
International
Latvia
*
Baltic Cup:
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
Individual
* Best player of the
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
by Polish Footballers' Association: 2011
*
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
top scorer:
2011–12
*
Latvian Rising Star of the Year: 2010
References
External links
*
*
Hlsz.hu profile
zte.hu profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudnevs, Artjoms
Living people
1988 births
Latvian people of Russian descent
Sportspeople from Daugavpils
Association football forwards
Latvian footballers
Latvia international footballers
FC Daugava players
Zalaegerszegi TE players
Lech Poznań players
Hamburger SV players
Hannover 96 players
1. FC Köln players
Ekstraklasa players
Bundesliga players
Latvian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Hungary
Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary
Expatriate footballers in Poland
Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Germany