Latvia Born in
Liepāja, Latvia, Verpakovskis started his career in hometown club
FK Liepājas Metalurgs, for which he played from 1995 till 2001 and scored ten goals in 59 appearances. In 2001 Verpakovskis joined another Latvian side,
Skonto Riga, where he scored 41 goals in 77 appearances. This period of time is known for being the peak of Verpakovskis' career. His performances were being recognized by many top European clubs, and in late 2003 he signed a contract with the Ukrainian top team
Dynamo Kyiv.
Dynamo Kyiv Soon after joining, Verpakovskis quickly earned his spot in the starting 11, scoring five goals in 11 appearances. He scored his first
UEFA Champions League goal against the Turkish club
Trabzonspor, which helped Dynamo Kyiv qualify for the next round and later Verpakovskis also scored a goal against
Real Madrid in the group stage, helping to earn a 2–2 draw in
Kyiv. Verpakovskis scored a total of three goals in the Champions League. After being honored as Dynamo Kyiv's best player of 2004 by team fans his career slowly started to decline, majorly due to a conflict with Dynamo's former coach
Yozhef Sabo. From that time Verpakovkis had been loaned out for several consecutive seasons, as his contract with Dynamo was still active.
Loans In 2007 Verpakovskis made a promising move to Spain, after he was signed on a loan deal by
Getafe. Amid high competition for a place in the starting line-up, Verpakovskis scored one goal in 13 appearances. Right after returning from Spain, Verpakovskis was loaned to
HNK Hajduk Split from Croatia, along with his Dynamo team-mates
Florin Cernat and
Goran Sablić. Verpakovskis had a good season in Hajduk, scoring five goals in 18 appearances and played the key role in team's victories. In early 2008 he suffered an injury and did not play for the remaining time of his loan at Hajduk Split. He made a short comeback to Kyiv during the summer of 2008. Verpakovskis was on a loan term with Spanish side
Celta de Vigo for the 2008–09 season, playing eight league matches and scoring no goals. In 2009, Verpakovskis had to extend his contract with Dynamo Kyiv for two years and the
Greek Super League club
Ergotelis signed him on a two-year loan. During those two years Verpakovskis played 46 league games and scored seven goals for the club. After the season, in 2011, his loan spell ended and he returned to Kyiv.
FK Baku In 2011 Verpakovskis signed a contract with
Azerbaijan Premier League club
FC Baku for one season with an option to extend it for another one alongside his international team-mate
Deniss Ivanovs. In his first season there Verpakovskis scored three goals in 19 league matches and it was decided by the club's board that the contract would be extended for another season. Verpakovskis renewed his contract in June 2012. The next season was not successful for the Latvian international as he saw himself lose the place in the starting eleven, making only eight league appearances and scoring no goals. Despite scoring two goals and helping Baku grab a 3–1 victory over
Sumgayit FK in the 1/8 finals of the
Azerbaijan Cup on 28 November 2012, Verpakovskis left the club in January 2013.
Ergotelis On 30 January 2013, rumours in the Greek and Latvian media appeared that Verpakovskis could rejoin the
Greek Football League club
Ergotelis. This information was officially confirmed by the club and the player one day later - on 31 January 2013. Verpakovskis made his return debut for the club on 20 February 2013 in a league match against
Doxa Drama. On 29 April 2013, Verpakovskis scored both goals in his club's 2–0 league victory over
Olympiacos Volos. Verpakovskis then scored in the last match of the season on 26 May 2013 to secure a 1–1 draw against
Niki Volos. This goal and point secured Ergotelis a return to the
Super League Greece. Verpakovskis made his Super League return debut on 26 August 2013 in a 2–0 victory over
Levadiakos. He scored his first goal since return to the Superliga on 2 November 2013 in a 2–1 loss to
PAOK On 10 November 2013, Verpakovskis scored for the second consecutive Superliga match, helping Ergotelis secure a 3–1 victory over
Panthrakikos. In mid-season, January 2014, Verpakovskis informed Ergotelis that he was planning to retire in order to return to Latvia and jointly participate in establishment of a new football club in his local city
Liepāja after the city's former club
Liepājas Metalurgs had been dissolved. On 27 January 2014, he played his last match for Ergotelis as the club lost 1–0 to
Panetolikos with Verpakovskis coming on as a late match substitute. After the game Verpakovskis was honoured by his teammates and the club's staff with the president Giannis Daskalakis handing him a special "Verpakovskis" jersey of Ergotelis and stating that "Ergotelis will be Verpakovskis' team for life and Heraklion is the place where Māris can always find his second family." Over one and a half season in Greece Verpakovskis had participated in 28 league matches and scored five goals. In a later interview Verpakovskis revealed that he had wished to finish the season in Greece but due to the limited time for establishment of a club he was forced to return to Latvia as soon as possible.
FK Liepāja On 23 January 2014, the establishment of the newly founded
Latvian Higher League club
FK Liepāja was officially announced, and following his return from Greece Verpakovkis took office as the club's president. Besides the administrative work he still retains an active player's status. During the 2014 season Verpakovskis appeared in nine league matches and scored one goal. He left the club in November 2018.
FK RFS A few days after leaving
FK Liepāja, Verpakovskis was hired as director of football at
FK RFS. It was confirmed on 25 November 2018. On 31 May 2019, Verpakovskis played a game for
FC Caramba Riga, playing 45 minutes and scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory, helping the team to reach the second leg of the
Latvian Cup. ==International career==