Antons Kurakins (born 1 January 1990) is a Latvian professional footballer who played as a defender for Riga FC and the Latvia national football team.

Antons Kurakins
Personal information
Full name Antons Kurakins
Date of birth (1990-01-01) 1 January 1990 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth Rīga, Latvia
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Multibanka Rīga
2007 RSK Dižvanagi Rēzekne
2008 FK Blāzma Rēzekne 30 (0)
2008–2011 Celtic 0 (0)
2009–2010Brechin City (loan) 2 (0)
2010–2011Stranraer FC (loan) 19 (0)
2011–2015 FK Ventspils 76 (3)
2015–2016 Hamilton Academical 36 (0)
2017–2022 Riga FC 102 (3)
International career
2014–2015 Latvia 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:05, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 November 2017

Career

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After starting his career in his home country with Multibanka Rīga, RSK Dižvanagi Rēzekne and FK Blāzma Rēzekne Kurakins then moved to Scotland, signing for Celtic, where he played in the club's youth side. During his time at Celtic, he went out on loan to Brechin City in April 2010[2] and to Stranraer in February 2011.[3]

After a spell with FK Ventspils, Kurakins returned to Scotland in July 2015, signing for Hamilton Academical.[4] He was released by the club on 24 August 2016.[5] He then returned to Latvia, where he spent several months training with Riga FC,[6] and joined the club in 2017. Kurakins stayed with the club for five seasons, departing at the end of the 2022 season.[7]

International career

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Kurakins made his first international appearance in a friendly against Macedonia on 5 March 2014, playing the entire match.[8]

Honours

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Club

Ventspils[9]

National Team[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Antons Kurakins Steckbrief" (in German). weltfussbal.de. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Two Celtic youth players move to Brechin City on loan". BBC Sport. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Transfer deadline day in the SFL: club by club". Daily Record. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  4. ^ McGilvray, Andy (18 July 2015). "Hamilton defender Antons Kurakins is looking to launch his career at New Douglas Park". Daily Record. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  5. ^ "One Arrival, One Departure". Hamilton Academical F.C. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  6. ^ Birjuks, Arkādijs (9 March 2017). ""Riga": krievu investors prom, Ronaldinju tika piedāvāts līgums". Sporta Centrs. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. ^ "PALDIES, KURA!" [Thank You, Kura!]. rigafc.lv (in Latvian). 29 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Macedonia football team defeated Latvia 2:1, 5 March 2014". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  9. ^ a b "A. Kurakins". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
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