Karol Mets
Mets playing for CSKA Sofia in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-05-16) 16 May 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth Viljandi, Estonia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 St. Pauli
Number 3
Youth career
2003–2009 Tulevik
2011 Flora
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Tulevik II 51 (4)
2010 Warrior 4 (1)
2010–2014 Flora 115 (7)
2011–2012 Flora II 19 (3)
2014–2017 Viking 72 (0)
2017–2019 NAC Breda 40 (1)
2019–2020 AIK 46 (2)
2020–2021 Al-Ettifaq 23 (0)
2021–2022 CSKA Sofia 12 (0)
2022–2023 Zürich 25 (1)
2023 → St. Pauli (loan) 17 (0)
2023– St. Pauli 25 (0)
International career‡
2009 Estonia U17 8 (0)
2010 Estonia U18 1 (0)
2010–2012 Estonia U19 32 (0)
2012–2014 Estonia U21 20 (0)
2013– Estonia 89 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:07, 31 March 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:31, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Karol Mets (Estonian: [ˈkɑrol mets]; born 16 May 1993) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder for St. Pauli and the Estonia national team.

Club career

Tulevik

Mets came through the Tulevik youth system, and played for the club's reserve sides Tulevik II and Warrior.

Flora

In November 2010, Mets was included in Flora's first team squad for pre-season training.[1] He made his debut for the club on 1 March 2011, against Levadia in the Estonian Supercup match. Flora won 5–3 on penalties. Mets made his debut in the Meistriliiga on 2 April 2011, in a 1–0 away victory over Kuressaare. He soon established himself as Flora's first choice centre back alongside Karl Palatu. Mets helped Flora win the Meistriliiga title in 2011.[2]

Viking

On 5 December 2014, Mets signed a three-year contract with Norwegian club Viking.[3] He made his debut in the Tippeligaen on 6 April 2015, in a 1–0 away loss to Mjøndalen.[4]

NAC Breda

On 31 July 2017, Mets joined Eredivisie club NAC Breda on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be around €100,000.[5] He made his debut in the Eredivisie in a 4–1 away loss to Vitesse on 12 August 2017, when he came on as a half-time substitute for Arno Verschueren. Mets scored his first goal for NAC Breda on 20 September 2017, in a 4–3 loss to Achilles '29 in the first round of the KNVB Cup.[6]

AIK

On 14 March 2019, Mets signed a three-year contract with Swedish champions AIK for a fee of €300,000.[7] He made his debut in the Allsvenskan on 31 March 2019, in a 0–0 home draw against Östersund.[8]

Al-Ettifaq

On 2 October 2020, Mets signed a three-year contract with Saudi club Al-Ettifaq.[9]

CSKA Sofia

On 10 August 2021, Mets signed a contract with Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia until the end of 2021–22 season.[10]

Zürich

On 7 January 2022, Mets signed with Swiss club Zürich until June 2024.[11]

St. Pauli

On 5 January 2023, Mets joined 2. Bundesliga club St. Pauli on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy.[12]

After the end of the season, St. Pauli decided to buy out Mets.[13]

International career

Mets playing against Portugal at the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship

Mets has represented Estonia at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. He was named in the Estonia under-19 squad for the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Estonia. Mets played in every group stage match, but failed to help the team progress to the semi-finals as Estonia lost all three games against Portugal, Greece and Spain.

Mets made his senior international debut for Estonia on 19 November 2013, in a 3–0 away victory over Liechtenstein in a friendly.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 March 2024[15][16][17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tulevik II 2009 Esiliiga 28 3 3 0 — 1[b] 0 32 3
2010 II liiga 23 1 — — — 23 1
Total 51 4 3 0 — 1 0 55 4
Warrior 2010 Esiliiga 4 1 0 0 — 0 0 4 1
Flora 2011 Meistriliiga 16 1 3 1 0 0 3[c] 0 22 2
2012 Meistriliiga 32 4 3 0 2[d] 0 0 0 37 4
2013 Meistriliiga 32 2 4 0 2[e] 0 — 38 2
2014 Meistriliiga 35 0 3 2 — 0 0 38 2
Total 115 7 13 3 4 0 3 0 135 10
Flora II 2011 Esiliiga 17 1 0 0 — — 17 1
2012 Esiliiga 2 2 0 0 — — 2 2
Total 19 3 0 0 — — 19 3
Viking 2015 Tippeligaen 28 0 6 0 — — 34 0
2016 Tippeligaen 29 0 3 0 — — 32 0
2017 Eliteserien 15 0 2 0 — — 17 0
Total 72 0 11 0 — — 83 0
NAC Breda 2017–18 Eredivisie 25 0 1 1 — — 26 1
2018–19 Eredivisie 15 1 1 0 — — 16 1
Total 40 1 2 1 — — 42 2
AIK 2019 Allsvenskan 26 1 0 0 — — 26 1
2020 Allsvenskan 20 1 5 0 8 0 — 33 1
Total 46 2 5 0 8 0 — 59 2
Ettifaq 2020–21 Pro League 23 0 1 0 — — 24 0
CSKA Sofia 2021–22 Bulgarian First League 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
Zürich 2021-22 Swiss Super League 12 1 — — — 12 1
2022-23 Swiss Super League 13 0 0 0 6[f] 0 — 19 0
Total 25 1 0 0 6 0 — 31 1
St. Pauli (loan) 2022-23 2. Bundesliga 17 0 — — — 17 0
St. Pauli 2023-24 2. Bundesliga 22 0 4 0 — — 26 0
Total 39 0 4 0 — — 43 0
Career total 446 18 41 4 18 0 4 0 501 23
  1. ^ Includes the Estonian Cup, Norwegian Cup, KNVB Cup, Svenska Cupen, King Cup, Bulgarian Cup, Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Appearance in Esiliiga relegation play-offs
  3. ^ Two appearances in Baltic Champions Cup, one appearance in Estonian Supercup
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 1 December 2018[19][20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Estonia 2013 1 0
2014 13 0
2015 9 0
2016 13 0
2017 9 0
2018 7 0
Total 52 0

Honours

Flora

Zürich

Estonia

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Flora alustab hooajaks ettevalmistumist detsembri keskel" [Flora will begin preparations for the coming season in mid-December]. Postimees (in Estonian). 29 November 2010.
  2. ^ "FC Flora kindlustas 2011. aasta meistritiitli" [FC Flora secured the 2011 championship title] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 1 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Karol Mets liitub Norra kõrgliigaklubiga" [Karol Mets joins Norwegian top-flight club] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 5 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Karol Mets alustas esimest välismaa hooaega põhimehena" [Karol Mets began his first season abroad as a starter] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 6 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Asi kindel: Eesti jalgpallikoondislane siirdub Hollandi kõrgliigasse" [Confirmed: Estonian international moves to Dutch top flight]. Postimees (in Estonian). 31 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Mets avas Hollandis väravaarve, kuid Breda sai šokeeriva kaotuse" [Mets scored his first goal in the Netherlands, but Breda suffered a shocking loss] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 20 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Karol Mets liitus Rootsi valitseva meisterklubiga" [Karol Mets joined the reigning Swedish champions] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 14 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Mets tegi Rootsis pea 30 000 inimese ees eduka debüüdi" [Mets made a successful debut in Sweden in front of almost 30,000 people] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 1 April 2019.
  9. ^ "الاتفاق يدعم صفوفه بمدافع المنتخب الاستوني". 10 October 2020.
  10. ^ "ЦСКА привлече естонски национал". cska.bgcska.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  11. ^ "FC Zurich sign center-back Karol Mets" (Press release). Zürich. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ "FC ST. PAULI SIGN CENTRE-BACK KAROL METS". www.fcstpauli.com. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  13. ^ "METS HANDED PERMANENT DEAL". St. Pauli. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Eesti võitis Liechtensteini 3:0" [Estonia defeated Liechtenstein 3–0] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 19 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Karol Mets" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  16. ^ "Karol Mets" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway.
  17. ^ Karol Mets at Soccerway
  18. ^ Karol Mets at National-Football-Teams.com
  19. ^ Karol Mets national team profile at the Estonian Football Association (in Estonian) Edit this at Wikidata
  20. ^ "Karol Mets" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.

External links

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