Igors Tarasovs (born 16 October 1988) is a Latvian

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 le ...

, who plays for

Ypsonas FC Ypsonas FC ( el, Ύψωνας FC) is Cyprus, Cypriot Association football, football club based in Ypsonas of the Limassol District. Until May 14, 2019, the name of the club was Enosi Neon Ypsona-Digenis ( el, Ένωση Νέων Ύψωνα - Δ� ...

and is also a member of

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 ...

Club career

As a youth player Tarasovs played for JFC Skonto and was taken to the first team in 2006. Making just one first team appearance, he was soon loaned out to the unofficial

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...

farm-team

Olimps/RFS JFK Olimps was a Latvian football club, playing in the top division of Latvian football. The club was from the city of Riga. According to a study from January 2011, the club was the youngest team in Europe, with an average age of 19.02 years. ...

to get playing practice. During his loan spell from 2007 to 2008 Tarasovs played 50 matches and scored 2 goals. He returned to Skonto in 2009, becoming a first eleven player. Representing the club for 3 years Tarasovs made 84 league appearances and scored eleven goals, becoming the Latvian champion in 2010 and the

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 Scandinav ...

champion in 2011. In 2011, the fans voted him as the ''Skonto Riga Player of the Season''. At the start of 2012 Tarasovs refused to extend his contract with Skonto and went on trials with

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

in Poland,

Inter Baku Shamakhi FK ( az, Şamaxı Futbol Klubu, ) is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Shamakhi, that currently competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League. The club has won the Premier League title twice. History Early years (1997–20 ...

in Azerbaijan and 1. FC Tatran Prešov in Slovakia. On 15 February Tarasovs signed a contract with the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

club

Simurq PFC Simurq PIK ( az, Simurq Peşəkar Idman Klubu) was an Azerbaijani football club based in Zaqatala, that competed in the Azerbaijan Premier League. History Early years (2005–2009) The club was founded in 2005 and participated in the Azerbaijan ...

until the end of the season, joining his international team-mate

Andrejs Rubins Andrejs Rubins (26 November 1978 – 1 August 2022) was a Latvian professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. He was a member of the Latvia national team. Rubins worked as a football manager. Club career Born in Riga, Rubins start ...

. Tarasovs scored 3 goals in 14 games that season, helping his team secure a place in the top tier for the upcoming season. In July 2012 Tarasovs returned to Latvia, signing a contract with the

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 Op ...

club

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 ...

. Throughout two seasons with the club he scored 8 goals in 37 league matches and helped the team win the championship and the

Latvian Football 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 2013. Tarasovs also participated in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and 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. It ...

qualifying matches. Tarasovs went on trials with

Baník Ostrava ''Baník'' is a Slovak word meaning "miner". Since the 1950s it has been part of the name of various sports clubs in Czechoslovakia associated mostly with coal mining regions. In Poland, the same practice was conducted with the name ''górnik''. ...

and Bodø/Glimt in the Czech Republic and Norway, but eventually signed a contract with the

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League or the Vyšejšaja Liha or the Vysheyshaya Liga ( be, Вышэйшая ліга, russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belarusi ...

club Neman Grodno in February 2014. On 22 March 2014 Tarasovs scored the winning goal for Neman in the extra-time of

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, � ...

1/4 final match against

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...

, securing his team a 2–1 victory and a place in the semi-finals. He scored in the 100th minute, beating his international team-mate

Germans Māliņš Germans Māliņš (born 12 October 1987) is a Latvian professional footballer, currently playing for JDFS Alberts. Club career Skonto Riga Born in Riga, as a youth player Māliņš played for his local club FK Auda, before moving to JFC Sko ...

in the BATE Borisov goal. On 27 November 2014 Tarasovs signed a one-year contract 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 cl ...

club

with an option to extend for two more seasons. On 7 July he signed a contract with

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 fo ...

. On 9 August 2019 it was confirmed, that Tarasovs had joined

FK Spartaks Jūrmala FK Spartaks is a Latvian football club that is based in Sloka, Jūrmala. In 2012, they finished 3rd in the Latvian First League championship and after winning the play-offs against JFK Olimps were promoted to the Latvian Higher League. The club ...

International career

Tarasovs was a regular player for Latvia U-21 from 2008 to 2010. He scored once in 8 appearances. Tarasovs was firstly called up for

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 ...

international squad for a friendly match against

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

on 3 March 2010. He made his debut then coming on as a replacement for

Vitālijs Astafjevs Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian former professional football midfielder, and current assistant manager of Aris Limassol having previously held the role for the Latvia national team. Astafjevs won nine Latvian championship ...

in the 73rd minute.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarasovs, Igors 1988 births Living people Footballers from Riga Latvian footballers Latvian people of Russian descent Latvia international footballers Latvian expatriate footballers Skonto FC players JFK Olimps players Simurq PIK players FK Ventspils players FC Neman Grodno players Jagiellonia Białystok players Giresunspor footballers Śląsk Wrocław players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players Kaposvári Rákóczi FC players Kuopion Palloseura players SC Kuopio Futis-98 players Ethnikos Achna FC players FK Liepāja players Latvian Higher League players Azerbaijan Premier League players Belarusian Premier League players Ekstraklasa players TFF First League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate footballers in Belarus Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Hungary Expatriate footballers in Finland Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Association football midfielders