Igors Tarasovs (born 16 October 1988) is a Latvian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Club career
As a youth player, Tarasovs played for JFC Skonto and was promoted to the first team in 2006. Making just one first team appearance, he was soon loaned out to the unofficial Skonto Riga farm-team Olimps/RFS to get playing practice. During his loan spell from 2007 to 2008, Tarasovs played 50 matches and scored two goals. He returned to Skonto in 2009, becoming a starting player. Representing the club for three years, Tarasovs made 84 league appearances and scored eleven goals, becoming the Latvian champion in 2010 and the Baltic League champion in 2011. In 2011, the fans voted him as the Skonto Riga Player of the Season.
At the start of 2012, Tarasovs refused to extend his contract with Skonto and went on trials with Jagiellonia Białystok in Poland, Inter Baku in Azerbaijan and Tatran Prešov in Slovakia. On 15 February, Tarasovs signed a contract with the Azerbaijan Premier League club Simurq PFC until the end of the season, joining his international team-mate Andrejs Rubins. Tarasovs scored three goals in 14 games that season, helping his team secure a place in the top tier for the upcoming season.
In July 2012, Tarasovs returned to Latvia, signing a contract with the Latvian Higher League club Ventspils. Throughout two seasons with the club, he scored eight goals in 37 league matches and helped the team win the championship and the Latvian Football Cup in 2013. Tarasovs also participated in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League qualifying matches.
Tarasovs went on trials with Baník Ostrava and Bodø/Glimt in the Czech Republic and Norway, but eventually signed a contract with the Belarusian Premier League club Neman Grodno in February 2014. On 22 March 2014, Tarasovs scored the winning goal for Neman in the extra-time of Belarusian Cup quarter-final match against BATE Borisov, securing his team a 2–1 victory and a place in the semi-finals. He scored in the 100th minute, beating his international team-mate Germans Māliņš in the BATE Borisov goal.
On 27 November 2014, Tarasovs signed a one-year contract with the Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok, with an option to extend for two more seasons.
On 7 July 2017, he moved to Śląsk Wrocław.
On 9 August 2019, it was confirmed that Tarasovs had joined Spartaks Jūrmala.Igors Tarasovs znalazł klub. Zagra w ojczyźnie , gazetawroclawska.pl, 9 August 2019
International career Tarasovs was a regular player for Latvia U21 from 2008 to 2010. He scored once in eight appearances. Tarasovs was firstly called up for Latvia international squad for a friendly match against Angola on 3 March 2010. He made his debut then coming on as a replacement for Vitālijs Astafjevs in the 73rd minute.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSkonto Riga 2006Virslīga10??00102009Virslīga30200203222010Virslīga24520202852011Virslīga2942020334Total841140609411JFK Olimps (loan)2007Virslīga27010—2802008Virslīga2320020252Total5021020532Simurq2011–12Azerbaijan Premier League14300—143Ventspils2012Virslīga164——1642013Virslīga2144060314Total3784060478Neman Grodno2014Belarusian Premier League2714120332Jagiellonia Białystok2014–15Ekstraklasa151——1512015–16Ekstraklasa2621040312Total4131040463Giresunspor2016–17TFF 1. Lig152——152Śląsk Wrocław2017–18Ekstraklasa35110—3612018–19Ekstraklasa17120—191Total52130—551Spartaks Jūrmala2019Virslīga103——103Kaposvár2019–20NB I7000—70KuPS2020Veikkausliiga800031111KuFu-982020Kakkonen20——20Ethnikos Achna2020–21Cypriot First Division16010—1702021–22Cypriot First Division19051—241Total3506100411Liepāja2022Virslīga50103090Ypsonas2022–23Cypriot Second Division251110—2611Nordic United2023Ettan100——100Hutnik Kraków2023–24II liga110——1102024–25II liga27100—271Total3810000381Jagiellonia II2025–26III liga, group I141——141Career total4744825226152551
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsLatvia201010201120201310201570201670201741201880201940202021202180202230Total472
Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tarasovs goal. + List of international goals scored by Igors Tarasovs No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition1 10 October 2017 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification2 7 October 2020 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro Friendly
Honours Skonto Riga Latvian Higher League: 2010 Latvian Cup: 2010–11 Baltic League: 2010–11
Ventspils Latvian Higher League: 2013 Latvian Cup: 2012–13
References
External links