Roberts Savaļnieks
Roberts Savaļnieks (born 4 February 1993 in Valmiera) is a Latvian professional footballer who plays for Latvian Higher League club RFS. Club career Originally, from Valmiera, Savaļnieks moved to Liepāja at an early age to train and play for the youth teams of Liepājas Metalurgs. He was taken to the first team in 2009, and with the playing time gradually growing, Savaļnieks became a first eleven player in 2012. Over the period of five consecutive seasons with the club he participated in 80 league matches and scored 5 goals, as well as played in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. In January 2014 Savaļnieks went on trial with the Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok and signed a contract with them for half-a-year with an option to extend it for two more years. He made his debut for the club on 16 February 2014, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 league defeat to Ruch Chorzów. In June 2014 it was revealed that Jagiellonia would not extend Savaļnieks' c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Valmiera
Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and is the seat of the Valmiera Municipality. Valmiera is one of the oldest cities in Latvia; it was a member of the Hanseatic League. According to the ethnic composition, Valmiera has the largest proportion of Latvians, ethnic Latvians among the state cities. Valmiera lies at the crossroads of several important roads, to the north-east from Riga, the capital of Latvia, and south of the border with Estonia. Valmiera lies on both banks of the Gauja River. Names and etymology The name was derived from the Old High German, Old German given name or the Slavic names, Slavic name . The town may have been named after the kniaz of the Principality of Pskov Vladimir Mstislavich (Pskov), Vladimir Mstislavich, who became a vassal of Albert of Riga i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of UEFA competitions, European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League. Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. From the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, 2009, following a change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. In the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League, 2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase of 36 te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2021 Latvian Higher League
The 2021 Latvian Higher League, known as the Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is the 30th season of top-tier football in Latvia. The season began on 13 March 2021 and ended 6 November 2021. RFS are the league champions and earned a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League while the second, third and fourth-placed clubs earned a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League. Riga were the defending champions after winning the league for a third consecutive season. Teams The league consists of 8 clubs from the previous season, joined by Noah Jurmala as champions of the 2020 Latvian First League. Tukums (relegated after one year in the top flight) were relegated after finishing last in the previous season and declined to apply for a license. Meanwhile, Jelgava did not receive a licence and will not take part in this year's tournament. On 19 June 2021, Ventspils withdrew from the remainder of the season and was dissloved later on. On 23 July 2021, Noah Jurm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2015 Latvian Higher League ...
The 2015 Latvian Higher League is the 24th season of top-tier football in Latvia. FK Ventspils are the defending champions. The season started on 13 March 2015. Teams FC Jūrmala relegated at the end of last season, and was replaced by FB Gulbene, which returned to the highest level after two years. Because FC Daugava did not obtain a license to play in the 2015 Higher League, and FK Daugava was dissolved before the beginning of the new season, the league started with 8 participants. On 3 June 2015, FB Gulbene was expelled from the top league and their results expunged on suspicion of match-fixing. References {{2015–16 in European football (UEFA) Latvian Higher League seasons 1 Latvia Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2009 Latvian Higher League
Latvian Higher League 2009 () was the 18th season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 14 March 2009 with the first round of games and ended on 8 November 2009 with the 36th round of matches. Ventspils were the defending champions. Due to numerous pre-season team changes, such as club mergers and withdrawals, the format of the league was changed. Since there are only 9 clubs that participate in 2009 Virslīga, every team plays 4 times against every other team, what will make every team playing 32 games. Contrary to the previous season, there is not Championship and Relegation pool. Teams Olimps Rīga were relegated after finishing the relegation round in last place. They were replaced by First League champions FK Daugava Riga. Blāzma won the promotion/relegation play-off against Tranzīts Ventspils with 6–1 on aggregate. However, after several mergers and withdrawals Tranzīts were also awarded a place in Virslīga, as the runners-up of First League. FK Rīga w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Exhibition Game
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or the team's rankings is either zero or otherwise greatly reduced. Exhibition games often serve as "warm-up matches", particularly in many team sports where these games help coaches and managers select and condition players, before the competitive matches of a league season or tournament. If the players usually play in different teams in other leagues, exhibition games offer an opportunity for the players to learn to work with each other. The games can be held between separate teams or between parts of the same team. An exhibition game may also be used to settle a challenge, to provide professional entertainment, to promote the sport, to commemorate an anniversary or a famous player, or to raise money for charities. Several sports le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ta' Qali
Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of Attard and Mosta in central and northern Malta respectively, which contains National Stadium, Ta' Qali, the national football stadium, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a crafts village, and a national vegetable market which is locally known as the ''Pitkalija''. Shortly before World War II, the area was used to build a military aerodrome and a station for the Royal Air Force (RAF), which the British called RAF Ta Kali; Maltese place names were often corrupted in this fashion. RAF Ta Kali was operational throughout the war and continued to be used as an RAF airfield until the mid-1950s. Later, RAF squadrons based in the United Kingdom visited Ta Kali as part of their annual proficiency training. Since the departure of the RAF and the closure of the air base, the location has been transformed into a recreational area. The area is small in scale but considered by some in Malta as an ideal place to go for a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Stadium, Ta' Qali
The National Stadium, locally also referred to as Ta' Qali, officially known as Grawnd Nazzjonali (Maltese for ''National Stadium''), is a stadium located in Ta' Qali, Malta. The stadium, which also contains the headquarters of the Malta Football Association, seats 16,997 people and is, by far, the largest stadium in the country. It serves as the national football stadium of Malta and is the home stadium of the Malta national football team. The stadium, together with three other stadiums, also hosts the Maltese Premier League. History Background and early years Although officially the new stadium was inaugurated on 6 December 1981 with a Maltese Premier League encounter between Zurrieq F.C. and Senglea Athletic F.C., certain records suggest that the stadium was already up and running by May 1981. Indeed, newspapers extracts indicate that the stadium hosted the final of the first ever national championship organised by the now defunct Malta Football Federation (not to be co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2022 FIFA World Cup Qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tournaments were organised by FIFA's six FIFA#Structure, confederations. Qualification began on 6 June 2019 with several matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), AFC zone, the first being between Mongolia national football team, Mongolia and Brunei national football team, Brunei, and ended on 14 June 2022 with an 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs), inter-confederation play-off between Costa Rica national football team, Costa Rica and New Zealand national football team, New Zealand.At the time a rescheduled match of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL), the CONMEBOL section was still due to be played, but it was ultimately cancelled. Mongolian player Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal netted the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics of Turkey, population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the List of European cities by population within city limits, largest cities in Europe and List of cities proper by population, in the world by population. It is a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in Europe and the rest in Asia. Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its area of is coterminous with Istanbul Province. Istanbul's climate is Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean. The city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. Byzantium was founded on the Sarayburnu promontory by Greek colonisation, Greek col ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atatürk Olympic Stadium
The Atatürk Olympic Stadium (, ) is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of Başakşehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Its construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. It was originally built for Turkey's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games that were ultimately awarded to Beijing, China. It cost about US$140 million. With its 77,563 ( all-seater) capacity and Olympic size, it was granted the "5-star sports complex" title by the UEFA in 2004, enabling it to host the finals of UEFA events. The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final between Milan and Liverpool was played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium on 25 May 2005. The stadium is also certified by the IAAF and IOC as a first-class venue for track and field, and has hosted several European athletic competitions. The stadium was originally scheduled to stage its second Champ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#Asia and Europe, transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions. UEFA consists of the national football associations of Europe, and runs national and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship, European Championship, UEFA Nations League, Nations League, UEFA Champions League, Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Conference League, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |