Nerijus Barasa

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Personal information
Nerijus Barasa
Date of birth	June 1, 1978 (age 28)
Place of birth	unknown, Lithuania
Height	182 cm
Position	Defensive midfielder Right back
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	6
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1994 1995 1996 1997-1999 2000 2001-2002 2003 2003-2005 2005 2005-present 2006-present	Mažeikių Romar Atlantas Klaipėda Baltika Liepāja Kareda Šiauliai FBK Kaunas Krylya Sovetov Samara FC Lada Togliatti FC Alania Vladikavkaz Krylya Sovetov Samara FBK Kaunas → Hearts (loan)	6 (0) 1 (0) 3 (0) 50 (3) 23 (2) 15 (0) 13 (0) 44 (0) 4 (0) 0 (0) 8 (0)
National team**
2001-	Lithuania	24 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 December 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 1 December 2006 (UTC).

Nerijus Barasa (born June 1, 1978) is a Lithuanian professional footballer currently on loan from Lithuanian club FBK Kaunas to Scottish Premier League club Hearts. He can play as a right-back or defensive midfielder.

Barasa started his career with Mažeikių Romar in 1994 before joining Atlantas Klaipėda the following season. After a year in Latvia with Baltika Liepāja, he returned to Lithuania with Kareda Šiauliai, then FBK Kaunas.

Russia beckoned for Barasa in 2001, where he spent the following 5 seasons; 4 in the Russian Premier League with FC Krylya Sovetov Samara and FC Alania Vladikavkaz and one in the Russian First Division with FC Lada Togliatti. During this period he was called up to the Lithuanian national team, earning his first cap in 2001.

At the end of the 2005 season, Barasa moved to Scotland, signing for FBK Kaunas then being immediately loaned to Heart of Midlothian. He joined the Tynecastle side on January 13, 2006.

In October 2006 Barasa was at the centre of controversy when he and compatriot Saulius Mikoliūnas were booed by Hearts fans for perceived poor form in a game against Rangers. This prompted Hearts' Sporting Director Alex Kozlovski to suggest that the supporters had ulterior motives for booing them, expressly their nationality. ^[1] This claim was contested by fans representative groups and Kozlovski later apologised and retracted it. ^[2]