Arminas Narbekovas

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Arminas Narbekovas (born 28 January 1965 in Gargždai<ref>https://nailtimler.com/people_page/people_13n/narbekovas_arminas_andriyovych.html Narbekov Arminas Andreyevich</ref>) is a former Lithuanian footballer who played as a midfielder. In 2003, he was selected by UEFA as his country's Golden Player, the greatest player of the past 50 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Arminas Narbekovas was born to a Tatar father Andrey Narbekov and a Lithuanian mother.<ref>https://nailtimler.com/people_page/people_13n/narbekovas_arminas_andriyovych.html Narbekov Arminas Andreyevich</ref>

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.<ref>Austria Wien Career</ref> 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.<ref>Arminas packt aus Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref>"Österreich ist Litauen mehr als zehn Jahre voraus"</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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

Club

Austria Wien

• Austrian Football Bundesliga (3): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93
• Austrian Cup (2): 1991–92, 1993–94

International

• Summer Olympic Games
  • Gold medal: 1988
• Universiade
  • Gold medal: 1987

Individual

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

International goals

Lithuania

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	27 May 1990	Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia	Template:Flagicon Georgia	2–2	Draw	Friendly
2	28 April 1992	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Template:Fb	2–2	Draw	1994 World Cup qualifier
3	25 May 1994	Bazaly Stadium, Ostrava, Czech Republic	Template:Fb	5–3	Loss	Friendly
4	9 October 1996	Žalgiris Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania	Template:Fb	2–1	Win	1998 World Cup qualifier
Correct as of 1 December 2014<ref>Football PLAYER: Arminas Narbekovas</ref>

Soviet Union Olympic team

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 September 1988	Seoul	Template:Fb	2–0	4–2	Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics
2	27 September 1988	Seoul	Template:Fb	2–1	3–2	Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Honours

Narbekovas was named Lithuania's footballer of the year four times, from 1985 to 1988.<ref>UEFA.com - Lithuania's Golden PlayerTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> 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.<ref>Golden Players take centre stage Template:Webarchive</ref>

External links

• Template:NFT player