Marius Žaliūkas

Early career

Žaliūkas started his career with Inkaras Kaunas before joining city rivals FBK Kaunas in 2004. He spent the 2004/05 season on loan to FK Šilutė before returning to Kaunas.

Heart of Midlothian

Žaliūkas was loaned to Hearts from FBK Kaunas in August 2006. He was one of many Lithuanians signed by owner Vladimir Romanov, who also owned Kaunas. Žaliūkas made his competitive debut on 26 August in a 4–1 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and scored his first goal for the Tynecastle club to secure a 2–2 draw at St Mirren on 2 December. His only other goal of the season came on 1 April 2007, the only goal in the 81st minute of an Edinburgh Derby win at Hibernian. Further to his impressive start to the 2008–09 season, it was reported by BBC Sport that major clubs in Moscow were willing to sign the defender. Žaliūkas was sent off four times during the 2008–09 season, although one red card was later rescinded. The third of these dismissals came in a Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk, when he punched Falkirk's Carl Finnigan twice in the face. Manager Csaba László reacted angrily to Žaliūkas, and told him that he needs to change his attitude. Two of the red cards came at Pittodrie against Aberdeen in separate matches. He ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract with Hearts, which ran until December 2010. In July 2009, following the departures of captain Robbie Neilson and vice-captain Christos Karipidis to Leicester City and AC…

Žaliūkas made his debut for the Lithuania national team in 2005. He scored his first and only international goal against Slovakia on 7 September 2012 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Žaliūkas' last game for the national side came in 2016.

Club

International goals

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

Žaliūkas was married to Nora Žaliūkė. They had a son, also named Marius, who was born in March 2020. According to Lithuanian Football Federation president Tomas Danilevičius, Žaliūkas was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2013. On 31 October 2020, the Lithuanian Football Federation confirmed that Žaliūkas had died at the age of 36. After a mass at St. George the Martyr Church, Kaunas, Žaliūkas was buried on 5 November 2020. Hearts retired the number 26 jersey in Žaliūkas's honour for 2021–22, while making MND Scotland their sponsor for two years.