Saulius Mikoliūnas


Saulius Mikoliūnas is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays 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.

Club career

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. 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 versus 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.
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.
Eventually, Mikoliūnas signed a three-year contract with Ukrainian side Arsenal Kyiv.
On 9 May 2019, Mikoliūnas received a UEFA B coaching license.

International career

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 victory.

Position

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

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

FBK Kaunas
Hearts FC
FK Žalgiris