Saulius Mikoliūnas

Saulius Mikoliūnas

Personal information
Date of birth	2 May 1984 (1984-05-02)
Place of birth	Vilnius, Soviet Union
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Right winger
Club information
Current club	FC Arsenal Kyiv
Number	13
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Šviesa Vilnius	13	(1)
2003	FK Ekranas	16	(0)
2004–2009	FBK Kaunas	23	(0)
2005–2009	→ Heart of Midlothian (loan)	102	(11)
2009–	FC Arsenal Kyiv	37	(4)
National team‡
2004–	Lithuania	49	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 April 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 July 2009

Saulius Mikoliūnas (born 2 May 1984 in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian professional footballer playing for FC Arsenal Kyiv. 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. 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.

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 Martinez moved to Wigan Athletic.

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

Position

"Miko" as he is referred to by fans is a right-sided midfielder who sometimes plays on the left side of midfield.

Honours

FBK Kaunas

• Lithuanian A Lyga: 2004
• Lithuanian Cup: 2004
• Lithuanian Super Cup: 2004

Hearts FC

• Scottish Cup: 2005–06

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 2007	S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas	Georgia	1–0	1–0	UEFA 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	1–0	2–0	Friendly match

External links

• Saulius Mikoliunas career stats at Soccerbase
• Career Appearances at national-football-teams.com
• Hearts Appearances at londonhearts.com