Edvinas Girdvainis verstärk die SVS-Defensive: SV Sandhausen
https://www.svs1916.de/aktuelles/news/d ... nsive.html
SV Sandhausen signs central defender Edvinas Girdvainis, the captain of the Lithuanian national team. The 30-year-old was most recently under contract with Lithuanian first division club Kauno Zalgiris.
“As captain of the national team, Edi brings a lot of experience and knows German football from his time in Uerdingen. That’s why I’m sure he can help us directly,” said Matthias Imhof, sports director of SV Sandhausen. “Since we are very thin in central defense, we are expanding our options in the squad for the coming year,” explains Imhof about the free transfer.
During the recently completed season in Lithuania, Girdvainis scored ten goals in 40 competitive games for first division club Kauno Zalgiris, where Girdvainis' contract was expiring. In his career, the 30-year-old central defender can look back on 47 appearances for the Lithuanian national team and now leads the team as captain.
“His mentality coupled with his immense experience undoubtedly make him a leader on and off the pitch,” explains head coach Jens Keller. “Edi is incredibly strong in duels and with both feet,” praises Keller.
The central defender, who was born in Klaipeda (Lithuania), played in the junior teams of the Italian professional club Calcio Padova in his youth. The 1.89 meter tall defensive specialist joined after stints at Ekranas Panevezys (Lithuania, 2012-2014), the Spanish Marbella (2014-2016), Piast Gliwice (Poland, 2016-2017) and Tom Tomsk (Russia, 2017-2018). Hapoel Tel Aviv and shortly afterwards at FK Schamachi. From Azerbaijan his path led to the Latvian first division, where Girdvainis played for RFS in Riga for a year. In 2020, Girdvainis came to Germany for the first time and laced up his kicking boots for KFC Uerdingen in the 3rd division. There, Girdvainis played 32 games in one season, in which he scored one goal and one assist.
“I'm happy to be back in Germany because I really enjoyed my time in this football-crazy country. Now I’m ready to help the team quickly,” said Edvinas “Edi” Girdvainis after signing the contract.
Edvinas Girdvainis is the 19th newcomer of the 2023/24 season. There are also the three youth players Livan Burcu, Dennis Egel and Diamant Lokaj, all of whom were given professional contracts this season.