Andris Vaņins

Andris Vaņins (born 30 April 1980) is a Latvian former professional footballer who works as a goalkeeping coach for Latvia national under-19 football team. A goalkeeper, he most notably played for Sion, making over 200 league appearances. At international level, he earned 100 caps for the Latvia national team.

Andris Vaņins
Vaņins playing for Latvia
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-04-30) 30 April 1980
Place of birth Ilūkste, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Latvia U-19 (Goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
FK Ilūkste
Ventspils
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2003 Ventspils 86 (0)
2003–2005 FC Moscow-2 38 (0)
2005 FK Venta 1 (0)
2006–2009 Ventspils 78 (0)
2009–2016 Sion 223 (0)
2016–2020 FC Zürich 59 (0)
Total 485 (0)
International career
2000–2020 Latvia 100 (0)
Managerial career
2020–2022 Sion (Goalkeeping coach)
2023 - Latvia U-19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Ventspils

Vaņins started his professional football career in 1997, when he was only 17 years old. His first club was FK Ventspils. In 2003, he left the Virsliga, signing a contract with FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow.

FC Moscow

In 2003 Vaņins signed a contract with FC Moscow. He could not manage to get into the first team, mostly being used in the reserves. As playing for the reserve team did not please the Latvian international, he decided to leave.

FK Venta

In 2005, Vaņins returned to Latvia. FK Venta offered him a contract, which Vaņins accepted. He did not play much there either and the club went bankrupt in the second half of the season. The first-team players, including Vaņins, were released.[1]

Return to Ventspils

Having become a free agent, Vaņins agreed to a contract with FK Ventspils. He became the first-choice goalkeeper at the club and played there for three and a half years. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 he was named the best goalkeeper of the season in the LMT Virslīga, as well as the Latvian Footballer of the Year in 2008. In 2009, he started looking for a club abroad, but eventually he had to start the next season with FK Ventspils, because of unsuccessful negotiations. In February 2009 he went on trial with the Russian Premier League club Rubin Kazan.[2]

Sion

In the middle of FK Ventspils' season Vaņins joined Swiss Super League club FC Sion on a three-year contract. He went on to become first-choice goalkeeper. His debut for the club was on 19 August 2009 in a 2–0 loss against Fenerbahçe. His first clean sheet came against FC Echallens. He was named the best goalkeeper of the league after the first and the second round. In his first season at FC Sion Vaņins played in all of the games and was named the club's best player of the season. The Swiss portal sport.ch named him the best goalkeeper of the Swiss Super League of the 2009–10 season.[3] After the 2010–11 season Vaņins was again named the club's best player by the team's fans, who gave him 34% votes in a survey via Facebook.[4] After the 2011 season he was also named the best goalkeeper of the season in the "Swiss Golden Player Award" ceremony.[5] In October 2013, Vaņins' contract at the club was extended till June 2017.[6]

FC Zürich

On 17 June 2016, Vaņins was signed by FC Zürich on a three-year contract.[7] He made his league debut for the club on 25 July 2016 in a 2–0 home victory over FC Winterthur playing the full 90 minutes.[8] In July 2020 his contract was not renewed.

International career

Vaņins made his international debut for Latvia in 2000 in a 3–1 loss against Slovakia. In summer 2007, when the first-choice keeper Aleksandrs Koliņko suffered a long-term injury, head coach Aleksandrs Starkovs faced a choice to either let Vaņins or Deniss Romanovs play. Vaņins was chosen to be the replacement, and since then he has become the first-choice goalkeeper of the team.[9] On 10 October 2019, Vaņins played his 100th match for Latvia in a 3–0 loss against Poland.[9]

Post-playing career

On 31 August 2020, Vaņins retired from playing and returned to Sion as a goalkeeper coach.[10]

Personal life

Andris Vaņins is married and has two sons.[11]

Honours

Ventspils

Sion

FC Zürich

Latvia

Individual

See also

References
  1. "Ross Akmens: Finanšu politika un tās kontrole nebija manā kompetencē". delfi.lv. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  2. "Vaņins uz pārbaudi Kazaņas "Rubin" – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  3. "Vaņins - Šveices Superlīgas sezonas labākais vārtsargs – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  4. "Līdzjutēji Vaņinu atzīst par labāko "Sion" futbolistu pagājušajā sezonā – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  5. "Vaņins atzīts par Šveices Superlīgas labāko vārtsargu – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  6. "Vaņins pagarina līgumu ar "Sion" līdz 2017.gada jūnijam". Sportacentrs.com. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  7. "Torhüter Andris Vanins wechselt zum FC Zürich" (Press release) (in German). fcz.ch. 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  8. "FC Zurich vs. Winterthur – 25 July 2016 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  9. "LFF: Andris Vaņins". Lff.lv. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  10. "Un retour et une arrivée au FC Sion" (Press release) (in French). Sion. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  11. "Vaņins: "Izlase tagad spēlē modernāk"". sportacentrs.com. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  12. "Latvia – A. Vaņins – Trophies". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
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