Marko Meerits (born 26 April 1992) is an Estonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who currently plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for

Nõmme Kalju Nõmme (Estonian for ''"Heath"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-cl ...

and the Estonia national team.

Club career

Flora

Meerits came through the

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

youth system. He moved to

Esiliiga The Esiliiga is the second division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga is ranked below the Meistriliiga and above the Esiliiga B. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends i ...

club

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have ...

on loan for the 2008 season. Meerits made his debut in the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

on 15 May 2010, in a 2–1 win over

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. ...

. He made 10 appearances in the 2010 season as Flora won their eighth Meistriliiga title. In the

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

on 1 March 2011, Meerits kept a clean sheet against

Levadia Livadeia ( el, Λιβαδειά ''Livadiá'', ; grc, Λεβάδεια, Lebadeia or , ''Lebadia'') is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the Boeotia regional district. Livadeia lies north-west of Athens, west of Chalkida, south-eas ...

for 120 minutes, eventually winning the match 5–3 in a penalty shootout by saving

Konstantin Nahk Konstantin Nahk (born Konstantin Kolbassenko; 10 February 1975) is a retired Estonian professional footballer. He played as a central midfielder and was known for his set-piece ability. He had a spell abroad in the Veikkausliiga Veikkauslii ...

's attempt and converting a penalty himself.

Vitesse

On 7 July 2011, Meerits signed a three-year contract with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

club Vitesse. He made his debut in the Eredivisie on 7 August 2011, when he came on as a 21st-minute substitute replacing the injured

Eloy Room Eloy Victor Room (born 6 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Curaçao national team. Club career Vitesse Room joined Vites ...

and kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 away draw against

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Flora (loan)

On 25 February 2013, Meerits returned to Flora on a five-month loan until the end of July.

FC Emmen

On 4 July 2014, Meerits signed a two-year contract with Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

club

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2021–22 Eerste Divisie title. Founded in 1925, the club entered the professional Eerste Divisie in 1985. ...

. In his first season with FC Emmen, he conceded 51 goals in 36 Eerste Divisie matches. In the 2015–16 season, Meerits was sidelined by a knee injury.

Tarvas

On 30 August 2016, Meerits joined Meistriliiga club Tarvas until the end of the 2016 season.

VPS

On 27 January 2017, Meerits joined Finnish

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

club

VPS VPS may refer to: Science and technology * Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, a neurosurgical method used to treat hydrocephalus * Video programming system, a standard for video recorders in Germany * Virtual private server, a method of partitioning a ...

on a one-year deal with an option to extend the contract for another year. He made his debut in the Veikkausliiga on 5 April 2017, HJK.

Narva Trans

On 16 February 2019, Meerits signed a one-year contract with Meistriliiga club

Narva Trans JK Narva Trans, commonly known as Narva Trans or just Trans, are a professional Estonian association football club based in Narva that compete in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Narva Kreenholm St ...

. On 25 May 2019, he captained the team in a 2–1 extra-time victory over

in the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

final.

International career

Meerits has represented Estonia at under-17, under-18, under-19, under-21 and under-23 levels. On 14 December 2010, Meerits was named by manager

Tarmo Rüütli Tarmo Rüütli (born 11 August 1954) is an Estonian football manager and former football player. As player, Rüütli won the 1985 Estonian Championship with Pärnu Kalakombinaat/MEK. As manager, he led Levadia to three Meistriliiga titles an ...

in the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

squad to face

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

in friendly matches. He made his senior debut for Estonia on 18 December 2010, replacing

Pavel Londak Pavel Londak (born 14 May 1980) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Legion. Londak spent most of his career playing in Estonia and Norway. He won the 2016 Tippeligaen with Rosenborg. International career Lond ...

in the 89th minute of a 0–3 away loss to China PR.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Flora *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

: 2011 ;Narva Trans *

: 2018–19

Individual

Estonian Young Footballer of the Year The Estonian Young Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the best Estonian young footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are ass ...

: 2011, 2013

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meerits, Marko 1992 births Living people People from Viimsi Parish Estonian footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Esiliiga players FC Warrior Valga players Meistriliiga players FC Flora players Rakvere JK Tarvas players JK Narva Trans players Eredivisie players SBV Vitesse players Eerste Divisie players FC Emmen players Veikkausliiga players Vaasan Palloseura players Estonia men's youth international footballers Estonia men's under-21 international footballers Estonia men's international footballers Estonian expatriate footballers Estonian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate footballers in Finland