Sergei Pareiko (born 31 January 1977) is a retired

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 ...

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 is currently the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

of Estonian football club Levadia. Pareiko played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in Estonian, Russian and Polish top tiers. He made a total of 65 appearances for the Estonia national football team.

Club career

, Pareiko played for

Tallinna Sadam Jalgpalliklubi Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn Football Club) was an Estonian football club that existed from 1991 until 1998. The club won the Estonian Cup in 1996 and 1997 and were Estonian Meistriliiga runners up in 1997–1998 and 1998 seas ...

and Levadia Maardu, before moving to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in 2001, when he signed with Rotor Volgograd. After Rotor were relegated, Pareiko moved to

Tom Tomsk FC Tom Tomsk (russian: Футбольный клуб Томь Томск) is a Russian professional football club, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The team plays in Trud Stadium (Tomsk). History The team was previously named ''Burevestnik'' ...

. At the end of 2009 season Pareiko was named the

Player of Year, sharing this title with Đorđe Jokić. In late 2010, speculation began to mount that Celtic were interested in Pareiko's services. Pareiko was left on the bench for Tomsk's last match of the season. He left the club on 25 December. On 8 February 2011 Pareiko joined 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 ...

side

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

on a one and a half-year deal. He became the first choice goalkeeper and won the Ekstraklasa championship in his debut season. Pareiko finished third in voting for the

Estonian Footballer of the Year The Estonian Footballer of the Year ( et, Eesti aasta parim jalgpallur) is an annual award given to the best performing Estonian footballer of the respective year. The award has been presented since 1992. From 1992 to 1994, the winner was chosen ...

in 2011.

International career

Pareiko made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 31 August 1996, in a 1998 World Cup qualifier against Belarus when the first choice keeper, Mart Poom, got injured in the 8th minute of the match. The match ended with 0–1 loss. His second cap came 6 years later and he became the team's first choice keeper in 2009. On 17 November 2015, Pareiko made his last appearance for Estonia against

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

. The game ended 3-0 for Estonia. Pareiko's national team career lasted 19 years, 2 months and 17 days, making him the longest serving Estonia national team member ahead of

Andres Oper Andres Oper (born 7 November 1977) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player. He is currently an assistant manager of Estonia national team. Oper played as a forward for Lelle, Flora, Tervis Pärnu, AaB, Torpedo Moscow, ...

Personal life

Pareiko was born in Tallinn, to a

n mother and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian father. In the interview for

Gazeta Krakowska The ''Gazeta Krakowska'', (full title ''Polska Gazeta Krakowska'') is the largest regional daily newspaper in Kraków, Poland, published five times a week in that city. Gazeta Krakowska was established on 15 February 1949. It features articles abo ...

he said "I am a citizen of Estonia, I have a passport of that country, but I am of Russian ethnicity". He married Victoria, in 2003, and they have one son named, Daniil. Daniil is also a goalkeeper under contract with Italian club

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, sinc ...

who made his senior debut in the Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

in 2023.

Honours

Tallinna Sadam

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 ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97 *

Estonian SuperCup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

: 1997

Casale Calcio

Coppa Italia Dilettanti The Coppa Italia Dilettanti ( Italian for: Italian Amateurs Cup) is an annual knock-out competition for teams from the fifth and sixth levels of Italian football: the Eccellenza and the Promozione. All ties except for the final, which is held at t ...

: 1998–99

Levadia Maardu

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 ...

: 1999, 2000 *

: 1999–00 *

: 1999, 2000

Wisła Kraków

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Individual

* Tom Tomsk Player of the Year: 2009

Statistics

Club career

This statistic includes domestic league only ''Last update: 17 November 2015''

International statistics

References

External links

* * *
Sergei Pareiko Interview
Soccernet {{DEFAULTSORT:Pareiko, Sergei 1977 births Living people Footballers from Tallinn Estonian people of Belarusian descent Estonian people of Russian descent Estonian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Estonia men's international footballers FCI Levadia Tallinn players FC Rotor Volgograd players Estonian expatriate men's footballers Casale FBC players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy FC Tom Tomsk players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Russian Premier League players Wisła Kraków players Ekstraklasa players Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Poland FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod players FC Puuma Tallinn players Meistriliiga players