Marek Lemsalu (born 24 November 1972) is an Estonian 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 ...

. He played as a centre-back for Pärnu KEK, Sport Tallinn, Pärnu Kalakombinaat/MEK,

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

, Strømsgodset, Tulevik, Start,

Bryne Bryne () is a town in Time municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality of Time and it is also one of the 50 largest towns/cities in Norway. Bryne's location in the region of Stavanger/Sand ...

and Levadia. Lemsalu made his debut for the Estonia national team in 1992. He was captain in 1995 and 1996, and made a total of 86 appearances for the team before retiring in 2007. Lemsalu was named Estonian Footballer of the Year in 1996 and Meistriliiga Player of the Year in 2006.

Club career

Early career

Lemsalu started playing football in 1988 for his hometown club Pärnu KEK, before moving to

Soviet Second League The Soviet Second League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу (вторая лига), Soviet football championship (Second League)) was the third highest division of Soviet football, below the Soviet First League The So ...

club Sport Tallinn in 1989. In 1990, he returned to Pärnu where he played for Pärnu Kalakombinaat/MEK.

Flora

In 1992, Lemsalu signed for

of the newly formed

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-professional with ...

. With Flora, he won four Meistriliiga titles, in 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. In December 1997 he had a trial at English club Barnsley who were then in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, however this didn't lead to a transfer.

Mainz 05 (loan)

In 1996, Lemsalu joined German

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

on a season-long loan for a fee of EEK 1 million.

Strømsgodset

In 1999, Lemsalu signed for Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

side Strømsgodset.

Tulevik

In 2000, Lemsalu returned to Estonia and joined Tulevik.

Start

In 2001, Lemsalu signed for Norwegian 1. divisjon side Start. He helped Start to finish the 2001 season as runners-up and earn their promotion to the Tippeligaen.

Bryne

On 11 December 2002, Lemsalu signed a three-year contract with Norwegian Tippeligaen side

Levadia

On 17 January 2006, Lemsalu returned to the Meistriliiga, joining Levadia. Levadia reached the first round in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, but lost to Newcastle United 1–3 on aggregate. In 2006, Lemsalu succeeded

Konstantin Vassiljev Konstantin Vassiljev (born 16 August 1984) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Meistriliiga club Flora and captains the Estonia national team. Vassiljev has been named Estonian Footballer of the Year ...

as team captain. He won the 2006 Meistriliiga title and was named Meistriliiga Player of the Year. He won two more successive Meistriliiga titles in 2007 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Lemsalu retired from professional football after the 2008 season, playing his last match on 15 November 2008 against TVMK.

International career

Lemsalu made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 11 July 1992 in a 1–1 draw against Lithuania in the 1992 Baltic Cup. He was team captain in 1995 and 1996. He scored his first goal for Estonia on 22 June 1997 in a 4–1 home win against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

in a friendly. Lemsalu retired from international football on 28 March 2007, after a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He made a total of 86 appearances and scored 3 goals.

Personal life

Lemsalu's daughter

Liis Lemsalu Liis Lemsalu (born October 20, 1992 in Pärnu, Estonia) is an Estonian singer. 2011 : ''Eesti otsib superstaari'' Lemsalu rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of ''Eesti otsib superstaari'', the Estonian version of Idol series. Aft ...

is a singer and the winner of the fourth season of ''

Eesti otsib superstaari ''Eesti otsib superstaari'' ''(Estonia is Searching for a Superstar)'' is an Estonian reality-competition gameshow airing on TV3. It debuted on 11 March 2007 and it has since become one of the most popular shows in Estonia. Part of the Idol ...

'' (Estonian version of '' Idols'').

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lemsalu goal.''

Honours

Club

;Pärnu Kalakombinaat/MEK *

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

: 1990 ;Flora *

: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98,

: 1994–95 ;Levadia *

: 2006, 2007,

: 2006–07

Individual

* Estonian Footballer of the Year: 1996 * Meistriliiga Player of the Year: 2006

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemsalu, Marek 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Pärnu Soviet footballers Estonian footballers Estonia international footballers FC Flora players Meistriliiga players Esiliiga players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Viljandi JK Tulevik players FCI Levadia Tallinn players Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Bryne FK players IK Start players FC Kuressaare players 2. Bundesliga players Estonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Norway Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Association football defenders