Jānis Ikaunieks (footballer)
Jānis Ikaunieks (born 16 February 1995) is a Latvian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Strømsgodset in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jānis Ikaunieks | ||
| Date of birth | 16 February 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Kuldīga, Latvia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Strømsgodset | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2013 | Liepājas Metalurgs | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2014 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 19 | (3) |
| 2014–2015 | FK Liepāja | 32 | (23) |
| 2015–2018 | Metz | 12 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Metz II | 14 | (4) |
| 2017 | → AEL (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | → FK Liepāja (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | FK Liepāja | 41 | (16) |
| 2020– | Strømsgodset | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2011 | Latvia U-18 | 2 | (1) |
| 2013 | Latvia U-19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2014 | Latvia U-21 | 3 | (0) |
| 2014– | Latvia | 26 | (3) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 June 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2019 | |||
Club career
FK Liepāja
Ikaunieks was born in Kuldīga. As a youth player he played for the youth teams of Liepājas Metalurgs, scoring 11 goals in 20 matches in the 2012 Latvian First League season and helping Liepājas Metalurgs-2 win the championship. In 2013, he was taken to the first team. Ikaunieks debuted in the Latvian Higher League. Throughout his first professional season Ikaunieks played 19 league matches, scoring three goals. After the end of the season the club was dissolved due to financial difficulties and Ikaunieks alongside other players transferred to its successor, the newly established FK Liepāja.[1] Starting the season as a nominal substitute Ikaunieks strikingly rose to the first eleven and was named Latvian Higher League player of the month in May.[2] On 11 June 2014, Ikaunieks scored four goals in a 7–0 victory over FC Jūrmala.[3] All in all, he scored 23 goals in 32 league matches and became the second top scorer of the championship behind Vladislavs Gutkovskis from Skonto. In August 2014 Ikaunieks went on trial with the Croatian Prva HNL champions Dinamo Zagreb.[4] In September he was named player of the month for the second time in the season.[5] In October explicit interest in the player was reported for AFC Ajax, FC Metz, VfB Stuttgart and Udinese Calcio.[6] On 5 December 2014 Ikaunieks was named the best midfielder of the season and was simultaneously voted as the best player of the 2014 Latvian Higher League.[7]
Metz
On 23 December 2014, the chairman of FC Metz, Bernard Serin confirmed that Ikaunieks would join the Ligue 1 side on a four-year deal.[8] The transfer on an undisclosed fee was officially affirmed on 7 January 2015. Ikaunieks made his debut for Metz’ first team on 20 January 2015, coming on as a substitute in the Coupe de France 1/16 finals match victory over US Avranches.[9]
AEL
In December 2016, Ikaunieks joined AEL six-month loan move from Metz, in search of playing time. Reportedly, there was no buy option in the loan agreement.[10]
FK Liepāja
On 15 June 2017, it was announced that Ikaunieks had returned to FK Liepāja, while being on loan from Metz.[11]
Strømsgodset
Ikaunieks signed for Strømsgodset Toppfotball on 11 February 2020.[12]
International career
Ikaunieks was a member of Latvia U-18, Latvia U-19 and Latvia U-21 football teams. He made his debut for Latvia national football team on 13 October 2014, playing all 90 minutes in a 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying draw against Turkey.[13] It was later calculated that Ikaunieks had repeated the record of Māris Verpakovskis who debuted in 1999, being exactly 19 years, 7 months and 25 days old.[14]
Personal life
His elder brother Dāvis is also a professional footballer, playing for FK Jablonec.[15]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 21 June 2020[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FK Liepājas Metalurgs | 2013 | Higher League | 19 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 3 | |
| FK Liepāja | 2014 | Higher League | 32 | 23 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 35 | 24 | ||
| Metz II | 2014–15 | CFA | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | 6 | 2 | |||
| 2015–16 | CFA | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 2016–17 | CFA | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 4 | — | 14 | 4 | |||||||
| Metz | 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Ligue 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||||
| AEL | 2016–17 | Super League | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| FK Liepāja | 2017 | Higher League | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018 | Higher League | 17 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 9 | |||
| 2019 | Higher League | 24 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 8 | |||
| Total | 41 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 46 | 17 | |||
| Strømsgodset | 2020 | Eliteserien | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 130 | 47 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 49 | ||
International goals
- Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first.[17]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 29 March 2016 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar |  | 1–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 5–0 | |||||
| 3. | 2 June 2018 | Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia |  | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 Baltic Cup |
Honours
Individual
References
- "Virslīgā spēlēs FK "Liepāja"". liepajniekiem.lv. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Virslīgas labākie maijā - J.Ikaunieks un Beškarevs". sportacentrs.com. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Jānim Ikauniekam pokers, "Liepāja" ar 7:0 pazemo "Jūrmalu"". liepajniekiem.lv. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Zagrebas "Dinamo" interesējas par J.Ikaunieku". nra.lv. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Labākie septembrī - Jānis Ikaunieks un Viktors Dobrecovs". sportacentrs.com. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Stuttgart an Ikaunieks dran?". n24.de. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Jānis Ikaunieks - Latvijas "SMScredit.lv Virslīgas" labākais pussargs un futbolists". liepajniekiem.lv. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Bernard Serin: "Albert Cartier et son staff ont toute ma confiance"" (in French). wort.lu. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- "Jānis Ikaunieks debitē, "Metz" tikai pagarinājumā uzvar 3. līgas klubu". sportacentrs.com. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Janis Ikaunieks (Metz) transféré à Larissa". www.lequipe.fr. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- Αποστόλου, Κυριάκος. "Βρήκε ομάδα ο Ικάουνιεκς!" (in Greek). Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- https://www.godset.no/nyheter/klar-for-godset
- "Latvija-Turcija (1:1)". lff.lv. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- "Ikaunieks atkārto Verpakovska vecuma rekordu debijā izlasē". irliepaja.lv. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- Jānis Ikaunieks at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- Jānis Ikaunieks at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
- "Ikaunieks, Jānis". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
External links
- Jānis Ikaunieks at Soccerway
- Jānis Ikaunieks at FootballDatabase.eu
- Jānis Ikaunieks at National-Football-Teams.com