Aleksandrs Cauņa

Club

Born in Daugavpils, at youth level Cauņa played for Dinaburg, being brought to Skonto Riga system at the age of 14 in 2002, where he spent three years. In 2006, he joined the Latvian First League side Olimps Riga, playing 10 matches and scoring 2 goals. In 2006, he re-joined Skonto Riga and got a place in the starting eleven. He was named the best youth player in Latvia despite playing only half the season in 2006. In January 2008 Cauņa was invited to join the Premier League club Chelsea on trial and he trained with the club's reserves. After the 2008 season, Cauņa was on trials at several Premier League clubs, including Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland, but any potential move eventually fell through as managers Paul Ince and Roy Keane left the clubs. On 2 February 2009, he joined English Championship club Watford on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season, with a view to a permanent move. On 3 March he made his debut, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Jon Harley in the 2–1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. Cauņa scored his first Watford goal on his full debut for the club, firing a powerful half-volley in a 2–2 draw with Southampton at Vicarage Road on 7 April 2009. He returned to Skonto at the end of the season. On 25 August 2010, he went on trial with English Premier League side Blackpool, playing in their Lancashire Senior Cup tie against Morecambe later the same day at Bloomfield Road, but did not stay with the club.

CSKA Moscow

At…

Cauņa was a vital member of the Latvia national team since his international debut in 2007. He scored his first two international goals in 2009 – in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Luxembourg (a 4–0 win) and Switzerland (a 2–2 draw). His third goal came on 11 August 2010 in a 4–1 friendly match defeat to Czech Republic. It was his first appearance after recovering from a serious injury and being out of football for almost six months. On 12 October he scored a last-minute bicycle kick to level against Georgia in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. In 2008, he helped the team win the Baltic Cup. As of 3 November 2013 he had made 40 appearances for Latvia, scoring 11 goals.

Club

International

Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cauņa goal.

Non-FIFA International goals

Skonto Riga

Virsliga: 2010 CSKA Moscow

Russian Premier League: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 Russian Cup: 2011, 2013 Russian Super Cup: 2013 Latvia

Baltic Cup: 2008, 2012 Individual

Latvian Higher League young footballer of the season: 2006 Latvian Young Footballer of the Year: 2006, 2007, 2008 Latvian Footballer of the Year: 2011, 2012