Skonto Born in
Ogre, Stepanovs started his club career at Skonto-Metāls (later
Skonto Riga). He made his debut in senior football at just 16 years old and won seven national titles. In 1995, he made his debut for the
Latvia national team and soon became a regular member of the side. While playing with Skonto, Stepanovs played against teams like
Inter Milan,
Barcelona, and
Chelsea. In these games, Skonto and Stepanovs performed well. In 2000, he attracted interest from many European teams.
Arsenal In 2000,
Arsenal captain
Tony Adams was injured, prompting
Arsène Wenger to sign Stepanovs for a transfer fee of £1.35 million. He started the season well, scoring a goal for Arsenal in a 2–1
League Cup defeat to
Ipswich Town on his debut. His playing time grew until a match against
Manchester United, when both sides were battling for the
Premier League title. Arsenal lost this game 6–1 and their chances of winning the title were hit. After this disappointing performance, Stepanovs played only once again that season in a game against
Manchester City. ==Coaching career==