The reigning A Lyga champions FK Žalgiris have announced the signing of Venezuelan goalkeeper Carlos Olses. Olses joins the team after spending the last two seasons with Valmiera FC in the Latvian Virslīga.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper began his professional career in Venezuela, making his debut at the age of 17 for his hometown club, Deportivo La Guaira. During his five years with the first team, he made 80 appearances, including five matches in the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage and six in the 2022 Copa Sudamericana main stage.
Olses has also represented Venezuela at various youth levels, playing 19 matches for the U-17 and U-20 teams. In 2017, he was also called up to the senior national team.
In 2023, the Venezuelan joined Valmiera FC after the departure of their previous starting goalkeeper, Rihards Matrevics, who left for Riga FC. In his first season, Olses was the starting goalkeeper and made 30 appearances across all competitions, including two games in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and four in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
Last season, Carlos again started as the primary goalkeeper but was replaced after the first nine out of ten league games by Dāvis Ošs, who performed exceptionally well and retained his position throughout the season, leaving Olses as the backup for the remainder of the year.
At FK Žalgiris, Olses will compete for the starting spot with Arpad Topai, a 27-year-old Romanian goalkeeper who was named to the league’s team of the season last year. With this transfer, Olses becomes the first Venezuelan player to join FK Žalgiris.
The Lithuanian champions will begin their title defense on March 2nd when they host Džiugas Telšiai in the opening league match. Prior to that, on Saturday, they will play in the Super Cup against last season’s Lithuanian Cup winners, FK Banga Garždai.
Source: https://fkzalgiris.lt/vartininku-grandi-papilde-venesuelietis/
