Saulius Mikoliūnas

Saulius Mikoliūnas
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-05-02) 2 May 1984
Place of birth Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Right winger
Club information
Current team
 Žalgiris Vilnius
Number 23
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Šviesa Vilnius 13 (1)
2003 Ekranas 16 (0)
2004–2009 FBK Kaunas 23 (0)
2005–2009 → Hearts (loan) 102 (11)
2009–2012 Arsenal Kyiv 78 (6)
2013–2014 Sevastopol 16 (0)
2014–2016 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 32 (4)
2016– Žalgiris Vilnius 27 (3)
National team‡
2004– Lithuania 74 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 December 2016.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2016

Saulius Mikoliūnas (born 2 May 1984 in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian professional footballer playing for Žalgiris Vilnius. He is a Lithuanian international and has played for Scottish Premier League club Hearts and FBK Kaunas. Mikoliūnas also represented Lithuania at under-21 level.

Hearts

Saulius playing for Hearts in 2009

On 2 March 2005, during a match against Rangers at Tynecastle Stadium, Mikoliūnas received a double red card from referee Hugh Dallas. The player was initially sent off for barging linesman Andy Davis after a controversial penalty decision. He received a second card for later swearing at Dallas.[1] Since that incident, Mikoliūnas has been sent off twice more against Rangers, both as a second-half substitute.

Mikoliūnas was a regular in the first team for Hearts, however inconsistency always dogged his Hearts career. He silenced many critics with the winner at Tynecastle vs city rivals Hibernian on 26 December 2006. Mikoliūnas announced on 2 December 2008 that he wanted to leave the Edinburgh club after the 2008–09 season, to take up a new football challenge after spending four years at the club. On 27 April 2009, it was confirmed with immediate effect that the midfielder and his Lithuanian colleague Deividas Česnauskis had left Hearts.[2]

The following month, Mikoliūnas states he was to sign for Swansea City on a free transfer during the summer transfer window, but the move broke down after Swansea manager Roberto Martínez moved to Wigan Athletic.[3]

Eventually, Mikoliūnas signed a three-year contract with Ukrainian side Arsenal Kyiv.[4]

Position

Mikoliūnas is a right-sided winger who sometimes plays in the right-back position.

Honours

FBK Kaunas

Hearts FC

FK Žalgiris

International

Mikoliūnas has scored five times in his twelve-year international career. Having made his debut in 2004, he scored his first international goal in 2007 against Georgia. He followed that up a year later with a second goal, against Romania. On 11 October 2013, in 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification he scored his most recent goal: against Latvia in a 2-0 home vicotry.

Every time that Mikoliūnas has scored for Lithuania, the team have won the match and kept a clean-sheet.

In 2011, he scored again against Poland before in a surprising 2-0 win.

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 2 June 2007 S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas  Georgia 1–01–0UEFA Euro 2008
2. 6 September 2008 Gruia Stadium, Cluj-Napoca, Romania  Romania 2–0 3–0 FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying
3. 25 March 2011 S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas  Poland 1–02–0Friendly match
4. 11 October 2013 LFF stadium, Vilnius  Latvia 2–0 2–0 FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying
5. 9 October 2014 LFF stadium, Vilnius  Estonia 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2016

References

  1. ↑ Greechan, John. "Utter chaos". Daily Mail. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Hearts players become free agents". BBC Sport. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  3. ↑ "Mikoliūnas doubtful about signing for Swansea". Futbolas.lt. 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  4. ↑ "Naujasis S.Mikoliūno klubas – Kijevo "Arsenal"". Futbolas.lt. 2009-07-12. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-13.

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