Andrejs Kovaļovs (born 23 March 1989) is a Latvian 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He also represented the Latvia national team.

Club career

Born in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, Kovaļovs started playing football in 1997, at the age of 7. He was a member of the Daugava Daugavpils youth team and played under his first managers Aleksandrs Kohans and Ēvalds Stankevičs. Developing through the youth system Kovaļovs reached the first team of Daugava Daugavpils in 2007, when he was included in the squad entry for the following season. Being just 18 years of age Kovaļovs struggled with limited playing time, appearing in just three games over the first two seasons with the club. Nonetheless, in 2008 he helped the club win the

Latvian Football Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company W ...

for the first time in its history. In 2009 his playing time grew to nine appearances and Kovaļovs managed to score his first two goals in the Latvian Higher League. In 2010 Kovaļovs became a vital player in the team's first eleven and since then till 2013 participated in 106 league matches and scored 25 goals. In 2011, he made his debut in the

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 footb ...

playing against the Norwegian club

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

. In 2012 Kovaļovs became the champion of Latvia, with Daugava winning its first ever title of the Latvian Higher League. In 2013 they won the

Latvian Supercup The Latvian Supercup () is a one-match annual football competition. The two participating clubs are holders of the Latvian Higher League champions title and the Latvian Football Cup. The fixture is played before the start of the season. The fir ...

and became the first ever club to win it as the tournament was initially introduced that year. The 2013 season individually proved to be Kovaļovs' most successful one with the club. Scoring 16 goals in 27 matches he became the top scorer of the league and led Daugava to bronze medals in the Latvian championship. Kovaļovs was named Player of the Month in June 2013 and after the season was included in the ''Sporta Avīze'' and ''Sportacentrs.com'' teams of the season. In the nomination for the best midfielder's award he lost to Jurijs Žigajevs, but was still presented as the top scorer at the

Latvian Football Federation The Latvian Football Federation ( ; LFF ) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian football championship ( Optibet Virslī ...

Awards Ceremony in December 2013. In March 2013 Kovaļovs went on trial with the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, but did not stay with the club despite scoring twice in a friendly match. In December 2013 he was linked with a move to the Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

side

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional 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 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

, but with the club's long-term hesitation to offer a contract after a successful trial period Kovaļovs voluntarily broke off the transfer talks. In February 2014 he joined the

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Football in Moldova, Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldov ...

club Dacia Chişinău, signing a contract till 30 June 2016.

International career

Kovaļovs made his senior international debut for

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 ...

on 17 November 2010, coming on as a substitute for Aleksandrs Fertovs in the 82nd minute in a friendly match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. he appeared in 10 matches with his country.

Honours

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, 2015–16 * Latvian Super Cup:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Virslīga's Winter Cup: 2013 Latvia * Baltic Cup:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * Latvian Higher League top scorer:

References

External links

Profile
at LFF.lv * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalovs, Andrejs 1989 births Living people Latvian people of Russian descent Footballers from Daugavpils Latvian men's footballers 21st-century Latvian sportsmen Latvia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Latvian Higher League players Moldovan Super Liga players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players FC Daugava players FC Dacia Chișinău players Skonto FC players FS Jelgava players Riga FC players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players FC Vereya players BFC Daugavpils players Latvian expatriate men's footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria