Andres_Oper

Andres Oper

Andres Oper

Estonian footballer

Andres Oper (born 7 November 1977) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player. He is currently an assistant manager of the Estonia national team.

Quick Facts Personal information, Date of birth ...

Oper played as a forward for Lelle, Flora, Tervis Pärnu, AaB, Torpedo Moscow, Roda JC, Shanghai Shenhua, ADO Den Haag, AEK Larnaca, Nea Salamina and the Estonia national team. With 38 goals in 134 appearances, Oper is Estonia's all-time record goalscorer. Oper was named Estonian Footballer of the Year three times, in 1999, 2002 and 2005, and won the Estonian Silverball award twice; in 2001 and 2005.[1]

Early life

Oper was born in Tallinn. He graduated from the Tallinn Secondary School No. 37. He started playing football with Tallinna Jalgpallikool (English: Tallinn Football Academy) under Aivar Tiidus, before moving to Taivo Uibo's Uibo Poisid and then LMSK/Pantrid, coached by Aavo Sarap.[1]

Club career

Flora

In 1995, Oper signed for Flora. He won his first Meistriliiga title in the 1994–95 season. Oper soon became a first team regular and one of the team's leading goalscorers. He won two more league titles in the 1997–98 and the 1998 seasons, as well as the 1997–98 Estonian Cup and the Estonian Supercup in 1998.[1]

AaB

On 2 July 1999, Oper signed for Danish Superliga champions AaB, on a five-year contract for a transfer fee of $1 million (EEK 15 million).[2]

Torpedo Moscow

On 10 July 2003, Oper signed a two-year contract with Russian Premier League club Torpedo Moscow.[3] Often inconsistent in Russia, scoring 8 goals in 53 appearances, Oper was placed on the transfer list after he suffered an injury to his right foot. In 2005, he was linked with a transfer to Sunderland in England, but the contract was never signed.[4]

Roda JC

On 31 August 2005, Oper signed a one-year contract with Dutch Eredivisie club Roda JC for an undisclosed fee.[5] He scored his first Eredivisie goal on 1 October 2005, in a 3–2 win against Vitesse Arnhem.[6] Oper finished the 2005–06 Eredivisie season as the team's joint top scorer alongside Simon Cziommer with 8 goals and signed a contract extension for two more seasons.[7] He was the team's top scorer in the 2006–07 Eredivisie season, scoring 12 goals in the league and 1 in the play-offs. On 16 May 2007, he signed another contract extension with Roda JC until summer 2009.[8]

Shanghai Shenhua

On 19 July 2009, Oper signed a half-year contract with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.[9] He made his debut for the club on 2 August 2009, in an away match against Jiangsu Sainty. However, he suffered an injury and eventually terminated his contract with the club.[10]

ADO Den Haag

After an unsuccessful spell in China, Oper returned to the Netherlands and on 21 January 2010, he signed a half-year contract with an option for another year with ADO Den Haag.[11][12] He made his debut for the club on 13 February 2010 in a home match against Willem II. Oper scored his first goal for ADO Den Haag on 18 April 2010, in a 4–0 win against RKC Waalwijk. His contract extension stalled due to negotiations over personal terms, eventually no agreement was settled and the extension was cancelled. The contract expired in summer.[13]

AEK Larnaca

On 9 September 2010, Oper signed a one-year contract with Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca.[14] He scored on his debut against Ethnikos Achna.

Nea Salamina

In January 2012, Oper joined Cypriot First Division club Nea Salamina. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 March in a 2–0 win against Enosis Neon Paralimni.[15]

International career

Oper made his international debut for the Estonia national football team on 19 May 1995, in a 0–2 1995 Baltic Cup defeat against Latvia. He scored his first goal for Estonia on 8 June 1997, in a 2–3 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification loss against Sweden. He won the Estonian Silverball award twice, in 2001 and 2005.[1] On 2 September 2006, Oper played his 100th match for Estonia, a 0–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying defeat against Israel. He ended his international career with a testimonial match on 26 May 2014, after a 1–1 friendly draw against Gibraltar at A. Le Coq Arena.[16] With 38 goals in 134 international appearances, Oper is Estonia's all-time record goalscorer.[1] He played for the Estonia national team for eighteen years in a row.[17]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
  1. Includes the Estonian Supercup and Eredivisie play-offs

International

More information National team, Year ...
Scores and results list Estonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Oper goal.
More information No., Date ...

Honours

Flora

Individual

References

  1. [1]
    "Oper, Andres" (in Estonian). ESBL. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. [2]
    "Andres Oper lahkub Aalsborgi" (in Estonian). Õhtuleht. 2 July 1999. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  3. [3]
    "Oper kirjutas alla lepingule Torpedoga" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  4. [4]
    «Лобановский орал: вы нас убить хотите?» Из Эстонии — в Лондон к Венгеру, «Торпедо» и Китай sport24.ru
  5. [5]
    "Andres Oper jätkab karjääri Hollandi liigas" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Oper lõi Rodas esimese värava" (in Estonian). Eesti Päevaleht. 1 October 2005. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  7. [7]
    "Andres Oper usub Roda potentsiaali" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Andres Oper pikendas Rodaga lepingut" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Oper heads to Shanghai". Fifa.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010.
  10. [10]
    Андрес Опер: Играл в Шанхае, но столько, как Халку, мне не платили sportsdaily.ru
  11. [11]
    "ADO Den Haag bevestigt komst transfervrije Oper" (in Dutch). Voetbalzone. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  12. [12]
    "Oper komt selectie versterken". ADO Den Haag. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  13. [13]
    "Oper ei jätka siiski ADO-s" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  14. [14]
    "Ametlik teadaanne – Operil uus klubi" (in Estonian). Oper.ee. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
  15. [15]
    "Oper avas uues klubis väravaarve" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  16. [16]
    "Eesti viigistas Operi lahkumismängus Gibraltariga" (in Estonian). ERR. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  17. [17]
    Эстонский экс-футболист Андрес Опер: в Москве мне моментально объяснили, что означает по-русски моя фамилия! Archived 11 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine baltnews.ee
  18. [18]
    "Andres Oper - Century of International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
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