Roberts Savaļnieks

Roberts Savaļnieks (born 4 February 1993 in Valmiera) is a Latvian footballer, who currently plays for FK RFS in the Latvian Higher League.

Roberts Savaļnieks
Personal information
Full name Roberts Savaļnieks
Date of birth (1993-02-04) 4 February 1993
Place of birth Valmiera, Latvia
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FK RFS
Number 11
Youth career
Liepājas Metalurgs-2
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 Liepājas Metalurgs 80 (5)
2014 Jagiellonia Białystok 3 (0)
2014–2015 FK Liepāja 22 (3)
2016 Riga FC 22 (5)
2017–2021 FK RFS 125 (8)
2022 FK Liepāja 33 (0)
2023– FK RFS 16 (0)
International career‡
2009 Latvia U-17 3 (0)
2011 Latvia U-18 4 (0)
2011 Latvia U-19 3 (0)
2012–2014 Latvia U-21 11 (2)
2016– Latvia 51 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 July 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 July 2023

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.[1] 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.[2] In June 2014 it was revealed that Jagiellonia would not extend Savaļnieks' contract and after its expiry he shall look for a new club.[3] Having played 3 league and 1 cup match, Savaļnieks left the club in July 2014 to return to the Latvian Higher League and join the newly established FK Liepāja.[4] With 11 appearances and 2 goals in the remaining part of the season he helped the club finish the league in the top four. After winning the Virsliga with FK Liepāja in 2015 Roberts Savaļnieks joined Riga FC.

International career

Savaļnieks was a member of Latvia U-18, Latvia U-19 and Latvia U-21 football teams. On 25 February 2014 Savaļnieks was firstly called-up to Latvia national football team for the following friendly match against Republic of Macedonia on 5 March 2014.[5] He remained an unused substitute throughout the match.[6]

International goals
Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first.[7]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 March 2021Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey Turkey1–23–32022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.25 March 2022National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Kuwait1–11–1Friendly

Honours

Club
  • Latvian Higher League champion: 2009, 2015
  • Latvian Cup winner: 2019

National team

References
  1. "Latvijas U-21 izlases pussargs Savaļnieks noslēdzis līgumu ar Polijas Jagiellonia". Diena.lv. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. "Gorkšam otrā sarkanā kartīte sezonā, Savaļnieks debitē Polijā". sportacentrs.com. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. "Savaļnieks Polijā nepaliks, izskata iespējas". sportacentrs.com. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. "Savaļnieks no Polijas atgriežas Liepājā". sportacentrs.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  5. "Pahara kandidāti: atgriežas Rudņevs, pirmo reizi izsaukts Savaļnieks". sportacentrs.com. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  6. "Pārbaudes spēle: Maķedonija - Latvija". lff.lv. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  7. "Roberts Savaļnieks". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 April 2021.

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