Rokas Pukštas

Rokas Puktas
Personal information
Date of birth	August 25, 2004 (age 19)
Place of birth	Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Solin
Number	24
Youth career
2018–2020	Sporting Kansas City
2020	Barça Residency Academy
2020–2022	Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years	Team
2022–	Hajduk Split
2022–	Solin
International career‡
2019	United States U15
2021–	United States U20
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 18, 2022; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 21, 2022

Rokas Pukštas (born August 25, 2004) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Croatian First Football League club Hajduk Split.

Club career

Pukštas joined Sporting Kansas City's youth academy in 2018, and had a trial with Manchester United in 2019.^[1] He moved to the Barça Residency Academy in January 2020, where he was a regular starter of their youth sides. He signed a professional contract with Hajduk Split on November 10, 2020, joining their U17 side.^[2] He made his professional debut with Hajduk Split in a 2–1 Croatian First Football League win over Hrvatski Dragovoljac on April 29, 2022.^[3]

Pukštas is eligible to play for the United States and Lithuania. He represented the United States U15s in 2019,^[4] and the United States U20s in 2021.^[5] He was approached to represent the senior Lithuania national team in March 2022.^[6]

Pukštas was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma to a family of Lithuanian athletes. His father, Mindaugas Pukštas, was a Lithuanian marathon runner who came 74th in his discipline at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[7]

United States U20