Deividas Česnauskis (born 30 June 1981) is a Lithuanian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger. He made 63 FIFA-official appearances for the Lithuanian national team scoring four goals.

Club career

Early career

Česnauskis was born in

Kuršėnai Kuršėnai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Koršienā'') is a city in northwestern Lithuania, Šiauliai County, Šiauliai district municipality. It is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2023 estimate, it had 10,651 r ...

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

. He started his career as a teenage prodigy with Ekranas Panevėžys.

In Russia

Česnauskis earned a move to the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

before his nineteenth birthday, when he joined

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

in 2000. In three years playing for Dynamo, he earned 80 caps across all competitions and scored six goals for the club. Česnauskis then joined city rivals

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

for the 2004 Russian Premier League. At the end of the season, he won the Russian championship title with Lokomotiv.

Heart of Midlothian

Česnauskis agreed a transfer to Scotland with Heart of Midlothian in 2005. The terms of this deal involved him signing for FBK Kaunas and being immediately loaned to the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

side for three seasons. He made his Hearts debut against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. In the same match where Roman Bednar got sent off for diving in the second-half 15 minutes after coming on as a sub. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Česnauskis conceded a penalty from which Gretna were able to equalise and make it 1-1. However Hearts went on to win the match on penalties. Since November 2006, Česnauskis did not play for Hearts over a year due to injuries or simply not being picked, and only played two matches for the Lithuanian national team. He finally made his comeback for Hearts in January 2008 in an away match against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

, and soon after was voted

Man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in his return to Tynecastle in a 1–1 draw against Kilmarnock. He scored his fourth Hearts goal, and his fourth in the Scottish Cup, against Motherwell on 12 January 2008. He scored his first league goal for Hearts in a 2–1 defeat to Falkirk on 5 May 2008. On 26 February 2009, Česnauskis said he would leave Hearts in the summer unless he was given first team football before the end of the season, having started just two matches. On 27 April, it was confirmed with immediate effect that Česnauskis and his fellow Lithuanian teammate

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 Pre ...

, left Hearts.

In Greece

On 9 June 2009, Česnauskis signed a two-year contract with Ergotelis After one season at the club from

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, he signed a three-year contract with another Greek club,

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

, on 7 June 2010.

FC Baku

In June 2011 Česnauskis signed a two-year contract with

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side FC Baku. In 2012, he won the

Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup () is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid ...

with his team. Česnauskis was released by FC Baku at the end of the 2012–13 season after scoring eight goals in 52 appearances for the club. However, on 1 July 2013, Česnauskis signed a new contract with Baku.

FK Trakai

In 2014, he moved back to his home country and joined FK Trakai. With Trakai, he finished runners-up in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2016 A Lyga The 2016 A Lyga, also known as ''SMSCredit.lt A Lyga'' for sponsoring purposes was the 27th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 2 March and ended on 26 November 2016. FK Žalgiris, Žalg ...

seasons and reached the final of the

Lithuanian Football Cup The Lithuanian Football Federation Cup (), also known as Hegelmann LFF Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian football cup competition contested in a knockout tournament format. The winner of the cup gains entitlement to participate in th ...

in 2016, in which his team lost 0–1 against

FK Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as FK Žalgiris, Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Football in L ...

after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. At the end of the 2018 season, he retired from professional football.

International career

Česnauskis made eight appearances for the Lithuanian under-21 side. He made his debut for the full national team aged 20, on 4 July 2001 against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Until 2016, he earned 56 caps for his country, scoring four goals.

Post-retirement

In November 2018, Lithuanian first division team

announced Česnauskis as their new sporting director, alongside fellow former Lithuanian national

Deividas Šemberas Deividas Šemberas (born 2 August 1978) is a Lithuanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Between 1996 and 2013, he earned 82 international caps for Lithuania national footba ...

. In January 2020, the club announced that the contract with Česnauskis has been terminated by mutual consent. Since 2021, he has worked as a football agent and has his own agency called ''DC7 Agency''.

Personal life

His younger brother, Edgaras, is also a former professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Lokomotiv Moscow *

: 2004 Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup () is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid ...

: 2011–12

References

External links

* * *
Hearts appearances
at londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesnauskis, Deividas 1981 births Living people People from Kuršėnai Sportspeople from Šiauliai County Lithuanian men's footballers Lithuania men's international footballers Lithuanian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders A Lyga players FK Ekranas players FBK Kaunas footballers FK Riteriai players Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland FC Dynamo Moscow players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Ergotelis F.C. players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players FC Baku players Russian Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Super League Greece players Azerbaijan Premier League players