Ritus Krjauklis (born 23 April 1986) is a

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 ...

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 currently plays for

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 ...

club

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 ...

as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

As a child and teenager, Ritus Krjauklis played for his local club FK Ilūkste under coach Vladimirs Vinokurovs from 1993 till 2002. In 2002, he moved to

and continued playing for Dinaburg Daugavpils youth team. In 2005 Krjauklis was taken to the first team by Tamaz Pertia. In 2006 Krjauklis was signed by

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils was a Latvian professional football club based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils. It was one of the most prominent football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virslīga since 1997. It folded in July ...

but he couldn't prove his abilities there so he had to move back to

just one year later. He spent the next 3 seasons there, from 2007 to 2009 respectively, and managed to become a vital player at the club, playing 77 matches and scoring 6 goals during those 3 seasons. In 2009, after Dinaburg Daugavpils were excluded from the

because of suspect about betting against their own results, Krjauklis was set free. Then he joined

again. This time he became a starting eleven player and played 25 matches in the 2010 season. After that season Krjauklis accepted an offer from Azerbaijan and signed a two-year contract with the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club AZAL PFC. His start there was bright as he played in the starting eleven but then, after just 10 matches, in August 2011 he was released. Krjauklis returned home and after a few days was signed by the

club Liepājas Metalurgs. Until the end of the season he participated in 10 league matches and also managed to score once. On 15 July 2012, he moved to the South African

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

club Golden Arrows. Krjauklis was released from his contract after a single season at Golden Arrows and joined fellow

club

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ma ...

in August 2013. Prior to the

2014 Latvian Higher League The 2014 Latvian Higher League was the 23rd season of top-tier football in Latvia. FK Ventspils are the defending champions. The season started on 21 March 2014. Initially, Skonto Riga and Daugava Daugavpils, the second and third teams from t ...

season he returned to Latvia, joining FK Spartaks Jūrmala. At the end of January 2015 Krjauklis moved to the defending Latvian champions

. On 25 February 2019, Krjauklis transferred to the

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard.

Career statistics

Club

International career

Ritus Krjauklis made his debut for

in a friendly match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on 12 August 2009. As of 2012, he has been capped 18 times, scoring no goals. He received regular call-ups under the management of Aleksandrs Starkovs till 2012, but since the appointment of

Marians Pahars Marians Pahars (born 5 August 1976) is a Latvian professional football manager and a former player. As a player, he spent the majority of his career operating as a striker for English club Southampton, where he played in the Premier League an ...

in 2013 Krjauklis has not been called up to the team. As of February 2015, he has played 22 international matches for Latvia, scoring no goals.

Honours

FK Ventspils * Latvian League: 2006 * Baltic League: 2010 Latvia * Baltic Cup: 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krjauklis, Ritus 1986 births Living people People from Ilūkste Latvian men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers Dinaburg FC players Latvian expatriate men's footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Latvian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in China Shuvalan FK players Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa FK Ventspils players FK Liepājas Metalurgs players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Cape Town Spurs F.C. players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players FK RFS players Men's association football defenders Augšdaugavas NSS players Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C. players Nanjing City F.C. players BFC Daugavpils players China League One players