Deniss Romanovs

Updated on Oct 25, 2023

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Full name Deniss Romanovs Number 12 Name Deniss Romanovs Height 1.86 m		Playing position Goalkeeper Years Team Role Football player Current team Persipasi Bandung Raya

Date of birth (1978-09-02) 2 September 1978 (age 37) Place of birth Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Republic of Latvia)

Deniss Romanovs (born 2 September 1978) is a Latvian football goalkeeper, currently playing for Pelita Bandung Raya in the QNB LEAGUE (Indonesia).

Club career

As a youth player Romanovs was a member of the Skonto Rigs academy, which was called Skonto-Metals back then. The youngster was taken to the reserve team in 1996. He immediately made an impact, playing 14 league matches in his first season at the age of 18. Romanovs made his first step forward in 1997, signing with FK Valmiera, playing in the Latvian Higher League. Lack of experience saw the player on the bench during the first season, but in 1999 Deniss grabbed the first keeper's spot. 38 league appearances under his belt till 2000 and a big transfer to one of the best clubs in Latviaahead. In 2000 Romanovs signed a promising contract with FK Ventspils. In his first season there Romanovs appeared just once on the pitch, but the 22-year-old goalkeeper once again managed to fight for the first-choice keeper's spot. During 6 very successful seasons Romanovs played 76 league matches, one the Latvian Cup twice and also finished as the runner-up of the Latvian Higher League twice. Despite rumours that Deniss would join the Romanian Liga Iclub FC Vaslui, he eventually ended up signing a contract with FC Ditton. He had a good season with them and the long waited move to Romania was completed next year, as Romanovs signed a contract with Liga I side FC Dinamo Bucuresti in November 2006. Unfortunately, he was taken to the team as the back-up keeper for the Romanian international Bogdan Lobont. Over 3 seasons Deniss made just 3 first team appearances and terminated his contract in January 2009. After a month, in February 2009, Romanovs moved to the Gambrinus liga in the Czech Republic, signing a contract with SK Slavia Prague. Once again he was taken as a reserve keeper - this time as a back-up option for Martin Vaniak. During 2 seasons Deniss played 5 league matches. In July 2010 Romanovs moved to the Azerbaijan Premier League, signing a two-year deal with FK Khazar Lankaran. Even though he was promised the first keeper's role there, in the end once again he had to become the back-up keeper for Azerbaijani international Kamran Agayev. Dissatisfied with his playing time Romanovs left the team in December 2010 alongside 13 other players, who were asked to leave because of the poor results. In January 2011 he received an offer from the Liga Primer Indonesia club Cendrawasih Papua. The offer was accepted by the player and he joined the team, grabbing the first keeper's spot. After the first round of the championship due to some internal problems the championship was stopped, the foreigners' limit was changed and even more -Cendrawasih Papua ended its existence. In February 2012 Romanovs moved to another Liga Primer Indonesia club Arema (IPL). Before the start of the 2013 season Romanovs joined Indonesian Premier League new-comers Pro Duta. On 24 October 2013 he scored a goal from the penalty spot in a 6-0 league victory over Bontang. On 28 November 2013, Romanovs signed with Pelita Bandung Raya.

International career

Romanovs made his debut for Latvia in a friendly match against Bahrain on 3 December 2004. Since then he has been constantly called up to the national training camps and qualification matches, but mostly as the back-up keeper for Andris Vanins and Aleksandrs Kolinko. As of 2013, Romanovs has collected 5 caps for Latvia internationally.