Eduards Višņakovs (born 10 May 1990) is a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is O ...

side

SK Super Nova SK Super Nova is a Latvian association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, as a youth player Višņakovs played for his local club JFC Skonto till 2003, when he moved to

Daugava Rīga FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš. From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was k ...

. Being taken to the first team in 2008, Višņakovs scored 30 goals in 30

Latvian First League The Latvian First League ( lv, Latvijas Pirmā līga, 1. līga) is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. History The league was founded together with other Latvian football competitions in 19 ...

appearances, becoming the top scorer of the league and helping his team clinch an automatic promotion to the

. He was also named the league's best player in a ceremony on 22 December 2008.

FK Ventspils

Before the start of the 2009 Latvian Higher League season Višņakovs refused to extend his contract with Daugava, joining that time Latvian champions

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but h ...

. Right after joining Višņakovs was given out on loan to the league's newcomers FC Tranzit in order to get more experience. During this loan spell Višņakovs scored 3 goals in 19 league matches, returning from loan in August 2009. During his time at FK Ventspils, Višņakovs scored 25 goals in 74 league matches, helping the team lift all the possible trophies of the country, including

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

in 2010,

and

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 ...

in 2011. Višņakovs also participated in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stages.

Shakhter Karagandy

In June 2012 Višņakovs moved to the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

champions Shakhter Karagandy. He scored his first league goal for the club on 9 July 2012 in a 5–1 victory over

FC Zhetysu Jetisu Taldykorgan ( kk, Жетісу Талдықорған футбол клубы, ''Jetisý Taldyqorǵan Fýtbol Klýby'') is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Zhetysu stadium in Taldykorgan. They are founding members of the ...

. All in all, Višņakovs participated in 20 league matches, scoring 4 goals. He helped his team become the champions of Kazakhstan in 2012 and lift the

Kazakhstan Super Cup The Kazakhstan Super Cup ( kk, Қазақстан Суперкубогы, ''Qazaqstan Sýperkýbogy'') is a one-match football annual competition. The two participating clubs are the Kazakhstan Premier League champion and the Kazakhstan Cup winner ...

in 2013.

Widzew Łódź

In July 2013 Višņakovs went on trial with 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 ...

club

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 ...

and signed a one-year contract with them after a successful trial. He scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over

Zawisza Bydgoszcz Zawisza Bydgoszcz () is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, ...

on his debut for the club. In his second match for Widzew, Višņakovs yet again scored both goals, securing a 2–1 victory over

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 season. In the years 2002–08 the club ...

. On 18 August 2013 Višņakovs scored the only goal in a 1-0

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. ...

1/16 finals victory over Ursus Warszawa. On 25 August 2013 Višņakovs scored his fifth goal of the season in a 1-3 loss against

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish f ...

. He scored his sixth goal of the season on 6 October 2013 in a 4-1 victory over Lechia Gdańsk. Višņakovs scored his seventh and eighth goal of the season, respectively, in a 3-1 loss to

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ' ...

and a 2-1 victory over

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

on 19 October and 2 November 2013. At the start of December 2013 Višņakovs extended his contract with Widzew till June 2016. All in all he scored 12 goals in 36 league matches that season and was reportedly close to a move to 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 ...

, while Widzew were relegated from the Ekstraklasa.

2014 transfer saga

In December 2013 it was reported that Widzew had rejected an offer of 450,000 euros for Višņakovs from the Polish champions Legia Warsaw. Having been previously linked with a possible move to either

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

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 ...

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, Višņakovs finally went on trial with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

in July 2014, the only team ready to pay the transfer fee requested by Widzew. Višņakovs himself stated that his priority was the German Bundesliga but that

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

, who were also interested in the player, was an alternative.

Ruch Chorzów

On 28 August 2014 Višņakovs officially moved to the Polish Ekstraklasa club Ruch Chorzów, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut for Ruch on 31 August 2014 in a 3-3 draw against Lechia Gdańsk, coming on as a substitute and scoring a goal.

International career

Eduards Višņakovs has represented Latvia at U-19 and U-21 levels. He participated and scored a goal in the U-23 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 ...

on 5 June 2013, helping his team secure a 2–0 victory. On 10 September 2013 the U-23 team beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

1-0, with Višņakovs scoring his second goal in two matches. Višņakovs was firstly called up to

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team ( lv, Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international football and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

for the

FIFA World Cup 2014 The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

qualifying matches against

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 ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on 11 and 15 October 2013. He made his debut for the national team in the match against Lithuania, coming on as a substitute in the 77th minute and replacing

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 ...

. A local scandal arose when Widzew refused to fulfill its previously given promise to the

Latvian Football Federation The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) ( lv, Latvijas Futbola federācija) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the capital Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian ...

and did not allow Višņakovs to join the national team for the Baltic Cup matches in May 2014. Resentment was expressed by the Latvian Football Federation and the player himself but Latvia, eventually, went on to win the tournament without the help of Višņakovs. In September 2014, prior to the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, Višņakovs revealed that while he was playing for Shakhter Karagandy he was urged to take on Kazakhstani citizenship but despite not being on the radar of Latvia national team at the time, he had declined the offers stating that he would only play internationally for Latvia.

International stats

Honours

FK Daugava Rīga

* Latvijas Pirmā līga: 2008

FK Ventspils

Virslīga Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: 2010–11 *

: 2009–10

FC Shakhter Karagandy

* Kazakh Premier League: 2012 *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual

* Latvijas Pirmā līga top scorer: 2008 (30 goals)

Personal life

His elder brother

Aleksejs Aleksejs is a Latvian-language masculine given name. People named Aleksejs include: *Aleksejs Auziņš, Latvian footballer *Aleksejs Jurjevs, Latvian cyclist *Aleksejs Rumjancevs, Latvian canoer *Aleksejs Šarando, Latvian footballer *Aleksejs S ...

is also a professional footballer. While Eduards was a part of

squad, they also played together. In 2013 they became the second pair of brothers to play for Widzew together after Lithuanians Artūras and Igoris Steško during the 2001-2002 season.

References

External links

*
Profile
at Soccerbase.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Visnakovs, Eduards 1990 births Living people Footballers from Riga Latvian people of Russian descent Latvian footballers Association football forwards Latvia youth international footballers Latvia under-21 international footballers Latvia international footballers Latvian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belarus Expatriate footballers in Romania Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Belgian First Division A players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players III liga players FC Tranzīts players FK Ventspils players FC Shakhter Karagandy players Widzew Łódź players Ruch Chorzów players K.V.C. Westerlo players FK RFS players FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players CSM Reșița players MKP Pogoń Siedlce players