Arminas Narbekovas

Arminas Narbekovas (born 28 January 1965 in Gargždai) is a former Lithuanian football player. In 2003, he was selected by UEFA as his country's Golden Player, the greatest player of the past 50 years.[1]

Arminas Narbekovas
Personal information
Full name Arminas Narbekovas
Date of birth (1965-01-28) 28 January 1965
Place of birth Gargždai, Lithuania
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 Žalgiris Vilnius 155 (51)
1990 Lokomotiv Moscow 14 (2)
1990–1996 Austria Wien 115 (32)
1996–1998 VfB Admira Wacker Mödling 50 (9)
1998–1999 FCN St. Pölten
1999–2000 VfB Admira Wacker Mödling 20 (4)
2000–2001 SV Hundsheim
2001–2003 Wiener SK 11 (0)
2003–2004 White Star Brigittenau 11 (2)
2004–2005 SV Weikersdorf 23 (9)
National team
1988 Soviet Union Olympic 7 (2)
1988–1990 USSR 0 (0)
1990–2001 Lithuania 13 (4)
Teams managed
2004–2005 SV Weikersdorf
2006–2007 Žalgiris Vilnius
2007–2009 SV Donau Langlebarn
2009–2012 FK Banga Gargždai
2010–2012 Lithuania (assistant coach)
2012 FK Spartaks Jūrmala
2013–2015 Lithuania U-21
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Narbekovas made his debut in 1983 with Žalgiris Vilnius, Lithuania's sole representative in the Soviet Top League, at the age of 18. In 1987, he finished second in league scoring with 16 goals while leading his club to a third-place finish, their best in history. Zalgiris would then participate in the UEFA Cup for the first time, losing to Austria Vienna.[2] Austria would become Narbekovas' destination after Lithuanian players were allowed to move abroad. Arminas moved there in 1990 after a short stint with Lokomotiv Moscow, since Lithuania was not a part of UEFA yet and players from its clubs were not permitted to transfer.[3] Narbekovas would spend the rest of his club career in Austria, with Austria Vienna until 1995 and then with Admira Wacker and a number of other lower division clubs.[4]

International career

Although he never received a FIFA-sanctioned cap for the USSR national team, he did play for them, and win the Gold Medal, at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Narbekovas scored two goals in the tournament, including an extra time one in the semifinals against Italy, helping the Soviets to a 3–2 victory. Also, he represented USSR in 1987 Summer Universiade.[5] Arminas first played for Lithuania in its first ever game as a newly independent country, on 27 May 1990 against Georgia, and scored the first goal in the 2–2 tie. Unfortunately, injuries limited his career to just 13 caps and four goals for his country.

Honours

1988

1987

  • winner - 1
1987

Individual
  • Lithuanian Player of the Year: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
  • UEFA Jubilee Awards Lithuanian Golden Player representative
  • Summer Universiade: 1987 top scorer

Lithuania national football team
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.27 May 1990Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia Georgia2–2DrawFriendly
2.28 April 1992Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland2–2Draw1994 World Cup qualifier
3.25 May 1994Bazaly Stadium, Ostrava, Czech Republic Czech Republic5–3LossFriendly
4.9 October 1996Žalgiris Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania Liechtenstein2–1Win1998 World Cup qualifier
Correct as of 1 December 2014[6]

Soviet Union Olympic football team
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 September 1988Seoul USA0-22-4 WinFootball at the 1988 Summer Olympics
2.27 September 1988Seoul Italy2-13-2 WinFootball at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Honours

Narbekovas was named Lithuania's footballer of the year four times, from 1985 to 1988.[7] In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's jubilee, he was selected by the Lithuanian Football Federation as the country's Golden Player – the greatest player of the last 50 years.[8]

References
  1. "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. Austria Wien Career
  3. Arminas packt aus Archived 10 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Österreich ist Litauen mehr als zehn Jahre voraus"
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Football PLAYER: Arminas Narbekovas
  7. UEFA.com - Lithuania's Golden Player
  8. Golden Players take centre stage Archived 19 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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