Zaliukas: Marius

2013-Current (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Defender

Born: Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union: 10-11-1983

Debut: Yeovil Town (h) (substitute): 02-11-2013

6' 3": 13st 3lbs (2013)

Born in Kaunus, Lithuania, when the country was part of the USSR, he started as a teenager with local club Inkaras Kuanas in 2002, and had played nine games in the League before he moved on to FBK Kaunas in 2004. He was firstly loaned to FK Silute, where he made fifteen appearances, then in his first season, he made thirteen appearances in the League and two in the European Cup for FBK, followed by scoring twice in twenty starts in the League, and making two starts in the European Cup in 2005-06. He had been called up for the Lithuanian Under-Twenty-One side, making his debut on 3rd September 2004 in a 0-3 away defeat by Belgium at the Kuipje Stadion, Westerlo, in the UEFA Championships Group seven qualifiers. Four days later he picked up a second in a 2-0 home win over San Marino in Zalgiris and a third followed at Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas on 12th October 2004 in a 1-1 home draw with Spain. He was next included in the 2-1 away win over San Marino at the Olimpico in Serraville on 16th November 2004. Then there was a 0-2 defeat at Grbavicain Sarajevo by Bosnia-Herzegovina on 29th March 2005. His sixth cap came on 2nd September 2005 in Vojvodina in a 2-3 defeat by Serbia and Montenegro. Four days later they defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas by 1-0, and then he brought his total to nine as they were twice beaten at the same venue, 0-2 by Serbia and Montenegro on 7th October and Belgium 1-2 four days later. He had already made his full international debut for Lithuania, first as a seventy-first minute substitute for Robertas Poskus at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in a 2-1 away win against Albania on 1st October 2006 and then at Stadion GKS, Belchatow against Poland in a 1-0 win on 2nd May 2006, as a final minute substitute, when he went on loan to Heart of Midlothian, scoring twice in twenty-two League starts and one game from the bench in 2006-07, after making his debut for them in a 4-1 home win over Inverness Caledonians on 28th August 2006. He scored his first goal after coming on as a twenty-fourth minute substitute in a 2-2 draw at St Mirren on 2nd December 2006. He made his run-on debut for Lithuania and gained his third cap in a 0-1 away defeat by Kuwait at Kuwait Sports Club Stadium on 11th October 2006, but that was the only cap he gained during his loan period in Scotland. He signed permanently for Heart of Midlothian in early August 2007. He made his debut for his new club on 6th August 2007 in a 0-1 home defeat by Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League and scored his first goal in the twenty-seventh minute of a 4-2 home win on 6th October 2007, in the same competition. He went on to make twenty-one starts and five more from the bench in the League, as Hearts finished eighth, in his first season with them and he also made two starts in the Scottish League Cup. The 2008-09 season saw Hearts finish third and qualified for the UEFA Euro-League in 2009-10. He started twenty-eight League games, scoring twice, as well as starting twice in the Scottish Cup and once in the Scottish League Cup. The season also saw him add to his International caps, with one friendly on 20th August 2008 in a 3-0 home win over Moldova, in which he was a half time replacement for Tomas Zvirgzdauskas at the Marijampole Stadium, and five more in the Group Seven World Cup qualifiers, with a 2-0 win over Austria on 10th September 2008, when the came on as a seventy-fifth minute substitute for Audrius Ksanavicius at the same venue, and a 1-0 win over Faroe Islands on 15th October 2008, where he came on in injury time for Linas Pilibaitis at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas, but he started in the 1-1 draw in a friendly with Moldova at the Marijampole Stadium on 19th November 2008 and a 0-1 defeat at the hands of France at the Stade de France, Paris, on 1st April 2009 and also in a 0-1 home loss to Romania on 6th June 2009, both in the World Cup qualifiers, to take him to nine. The 2009-10 season saw Hearts drop to sixth on the ladder, with Zaliukas scoring twice in twenty-one starts in the Scottish League and one from the bench, he also scored once in two starts in the Europa League qualifiers as Hearts lost 4-2 on aggregate to Dinamo Zagreb and did not progress. He also started one Scottish Cup tie and two Scottish League games. He did not add to his international caps until the latter half of the 2010-11 season, a season which saw him score one goal in twenty-eight starts in the League, as Hearts finished third and again had the chance of a place in the Euro-League qualifiers in the following season. He also started one Scottish Cup game and on the international front, he also started in a 2-0 win over Poland in a friendly at Kaunas on 25th March 2011 and four days later gained his eleventh cap as Lithuania went down 1-3 to Spain in a Group One qualifier in the UEFA European Championship at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas. The 2011-12 season saw him start the two Euro-League Qualifiers as Hearts eliminated Paksi FC before going down to Spurs on aggregate against whom he started both games. Then he scored once in thirty-six starts as Hearts finished fifth and once more gained Europa League qualification and scored once in six Scottish Cup ties, as Hearts reached the Final where they beat cross city rivals Hibernian 5-1 at Hampden Park on 19th May 2012. He also made one start in the Scottish League Cup. On the International front there were four more caps to take him to seventeen with a friendly with Armenia on 10th August 2008 at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas and games in the Group One of the UEFA European Championship on 2nd September 2011 with a 0-0 home draw with Liechtenstein at the same venue and four days later in a 0-1 defeat by Scotland at Hampden Park and then a 1-4 defeat by the Czech Republic on 11th October 2011 at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas. Hearts barely avoided relegation, finishing tenth in the twelve team competition, as he scored twice in twenty-four starts and one game from the bench. There were also two starts in the Europa League as they were eliminated 1-2 by Liverpool, and he started one game in the Scottish Cup and scored twice in three starts in the Scottish League Cup. He scored his first international goal and added five caps to bring his tally to twenty. The friendly took place at the City Stadium, Skopje on 15th August 2012, with Macedonia scoring the only goal of the game. Then there were four games in the World Cup qualifiers, Group G. The first, a 1-1 home draw with Slovakia on 7th September 2012 in Zalgiris, he scored his first goal when he opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute. Four days later there was a 0-2 defeat by Greece at the Karaiskakis Stadium then on 12th October 2012 there was a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein at the Rheinpark Stadion and three days later at the Olympic Stadium, Bilino Polje, the home team Bosnia-Herzegovina scored three without reply. There were three more in 2013-14, taking him to twenty-three with a 2-0 win over Latvia on 11th October 2013, at the Zalgiris Stadium and a 0-1 defeat by Bosnia-Herzegovina, at the Dariaus ir Gireno Stadionas, Kaunas, four days later in the Group G games and a 1-1 draw with Moldova in a friendly at the Stadionul Zimbru, Chisinau. His twenty-fourth came in a friendly as Lithuania drew 1-1 at home with Kazakhstan in Zalgiris on 5th March 2014. However, the final four had been obtained while with Leeds United. Hearts had gone into administration after the 2012-13 season and he had been released by the club. While with Hearts he had scored eleven goals in one hundred and eighty-four starts and eight from the bench in the Scottish Premier League, ine goal in twelve starts in the Scottish Cup, two goals in ten starts in the Scottish League Cup and made six starts in European competitions. He had trials with Rangers, but ultimately he rejected the Rangers' offer and had further trials with Queens Park Rangers, but while they were deliberating, Leeds had stepped in with a concrete offer and he went to Leeds for trials. On 28th October, he signed a contract to the end of the season and made his debut, as a substitute on 1st November 2013 in the home game with Yeovil Town, making his run-on debut at home to Middlesbrough on 23rd November 2013. At first he seemed to be a good acquisition and had a couple of stand-out performances as he appeared to have cemented a place for himself. On 31st December 2013, he signed a further contract taking him to the end of the 2014-15 season. But that was when it all started to go wrong and soon they visited Sheffield Wednesday on 11th January 2014. They were soundly beaten by the home side 6-0, with an abysmal team performance which was caused primarily by several defensive mistakes by Zaliukas. He did play three games subsequently but was substituted on each occasion as the team's formation was altered. Brian McDermott had ceased to be the Leeds coach and he was replaced by David Hockaday. He was not chosen for the close season trip to Italy and in early July his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. He joined Rangers on 3rd July 2014 on trial and later signed a two year contract eight days later. He took his caps to twenty-six with a 2-0 win at the San Marino Stadium in Serravalle in Group E of the UEFA European Championship on 8th September 2014 and a 0-4 loss to England on 27th March 2015 at Wembley in the same competition. He made his debut for Rangers on 5th August 2014in a 2-1 win over Hibernian, after extra-time, in the Scottish League C Cup, over Hibernian at Ibrox, with his League debut following five days later in a 1-2 defeat by Hearts at Ibrox. He scored his first goal for Rangers on 30th August when he scored the opening goal in a 4-2 League win over Queen of the South at Ibrox. By the end of the season he had scored twice in twenty starts and one game from the bench in the Scottish Championship League, started once in the Scottish League Cup and six times in the Scottish Division 1 play-offs and twice in the in the Scottish League C Cup.