Saulius Mikoliūnas

Saulius Mikoliūnas (born 2 May 1984) is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a right winger for the Lithuania national team. He has previously played for Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian and Ukrainian Premier League club Arsenal Kyiv. With 101 caps, Mikoliūnas is also the Lithuania national team's most-capped player.

Mikoliūnas was a right-sided winger who sometimes played in the right-back position.

Club career

In January 2005, Mikoliūnas moved to Scottish club Heart of Midlothian on loan from FBK Kaunas. He was a regular in the first team for the 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 stated 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.

In January 2013, Mikoliūnas moved to Ukrainian First League side FC Sevastopol. At the end of the season, his team achieved promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League. In August 2014, he signed for Belarusian club Shakhtyor Soligorsk. In December 2015, Lithuanian club Žalgiris Vilnius announced that Mikoliūnas will join the club for the 2016 season.

At the age of 39, Mikoliūnas announced his retirement from professional football in October 2023. He played his last match on 12 November 2023, on the last matchday of the 2023 A Lyga (12 November). Across all competitions, he has appeared in 221 games for Žalgiris, won the A Lyga title four times, and lifted the Lithuanian cup five times with his team.

International career

Mikoliūnas made his debut for the Lithuania national team on 5 June 2004 in a friendly match against Portugal, and scored his first international goal in 2007 against Georgia. He followed that up a year later with a second goal against Romania. On 9 October 2014, in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match, he scored the most recent goal of his five international goals, against Estonia in a 1–0 home victory.

After appearing in a Nations League match against Kazakhstan on 4 September 2020, Mikoliūnas attained his 85th cap for his country and thus became the most capped player for Lithuania, surpassing previous record holder Andrius Skerla. On 25 September 2022, he became the first Lithuanian player to reach 100 caps for the national team after playing in the Nations League match against Luxembourg.

Off the Pitch

On 9 May 2019, Mikoliūnas received a UEFA B coaching license.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Lithuania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mikoliūnas goal.''

Honours

FBK Kaunas
* Lithuanian A Lyga: 2004
* Lithuanian Cup: 2004
* Lithuanian Super Cup: 2004

Heart of Midlothian
* Scottish Cup

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