Valdas Urbonas (born 29 November 1967) is a Lithuanian professional

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 ...

manager and former player who currently is the manager of the Lithuanian national team.

Club career

Urbonas began his career at Mokslas Vilnius, before moving to Neris Vilnius in 1990. In 1991, Urbonas briefly played for Vienybė Ukmergė, before moving to Vilnius Makabi. In 1992, after a spell with Minija Kretinga, Urbonas joined Geležinis Vilkas. In 1993, Urbonas signed for Žalgiris, making 41

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Auk� ...

appearances over the course of four years, scoring twice. In 1997, Urbonas joined Hungarian club Videoton. Urbonas made 51

NB I NB, Nb, or nb may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''N.B.'' (album), an album by Natasha Bedingfield * ''NB'' (TV programme), a Scottish arts television programme that aired 1989–1997 Businesses * NB Global, a British investment company ...

appearances in three seasons for the club, scoring five times. In 1999, Urbonas joined fellow Hungarian club Gázszer, before returning home in 2000, playing with hometown club Ekranas, before retiring.

International career

Urbonas made 14 appearances 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 ...

, including captaining and scoring for Lithuania on his debut in a 4–1 win 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 15 November 1991.

International goals

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

Managerial career

In 2009, following roles as assistant manager of

FK Vėtra FK Vėtra was a Lithuanian football team from the capital city of Vilnius. History The club was founded in 1997 and was initially based in Rūdiškės, a settlement in Trakai district, and moved in 2003 to Vilnius city with the purchase of ...

and

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) Originally the team was founded in 1960 as Banga Kaunas and played its first three years ...

, Urbonas was appointed manager of Ekranas. At Ekranas, Urbonas guided the team to four successive A Lyga titles and two

Lithuanian Football Cup The Lithuanian Football Federation Cup ( lt, Lietuvos futbolo federacijos taurė), also known as Hegelmann LFF Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian football cup competition contested in a knockout tournament format. The winner of the cu ...

s. In 2014, Urbonas was appointed manager of

Trakai Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. ...

. In 2017, Urbonas was named manager of Latvian club Spartaks Jūrmala. In the same year, Urbonas won the 2017 Latvian Higher League with the club. In 2018, Urbonas returned to Žalgiris, where he had formerly played. In February 2019, Urbonas was appointed manager of Lithuania. In 30 June was announced, that he quit with the job with national team.

Managerial Statistics

References

1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Panevėžys Lithuanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Lithuania men's international footballers FK Minija Kretinga players FK Žalgiris players Fehérvár FC players Gázszer FC footballers FK Ekranas players Lithuania national football team managers FK Ekranas managers FK Riteriai managers FK Žalgiris managers Expatriate football managers in Latvia Lithuanian football managers Lithuanian expatriate football managers Lithuanian expatriate men's footballers Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia A Lyga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players A Lyga managers {{Lithuania-footy-bio-stub