Nekdanji litvanski branilec Marius Žaliukas, ki je svoja najlepša lepa preživel pri škotski ekipi Hearts, je po kratkem boju s težko boleznijo tragično preminil v 37. letu starosti.
Žaliukas je tekom svoje bogate nogometne kariere branil barve številnih litvanskih klubov, nagloblji vtis pa je pustil v najmočnejši škotski ligi, kjer je kar sedem sezon branil barve ekipe Hearts, kateri je nekaj časa celo poveljeval kot kapetan, največji uspeh pa je dosegel leta 2012, ko je kot kapetan dvignil škotski pokal, medtem ko je bil leta 2010 celo izbran za nogometaša meseca.
Former Hearts and Rangers defender Marius Zaliukas has died at the age of 36, the Lithuanian Football Federation has confirmed.
— Insight Sports (@MyInsightSports) October 31, 2020
Centre-back Zaliukas played more than 150 games for Hearts between 2007 and 2013, captaining the club to Scottish Cup success in 2012. pic.twitter.com/WZfU9rdMLK
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of former Heart of Midlothian captain Marius Zaliukas.
— William Hill Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) October 31, 2020
Marius captained Hearts to their famous 5-1 victory over Hibernian in the 2012 Scottish Cup Final. pic.twitter.com/xj2A5ZPgWa
Na Škotskem je eno sezono branil barve tudi tamkajšnjega velikana Rangers, v zgodovino lige pa se je zapisal kot eden izmed najbolj priljubljenih ter spoštovanih tujcev, ki so kdaj branili barve tamkajšnjih prvoligašev.
Eno sezono je preživel tudi pri angleškemu padlemu velikanu Leeds United, kjer je prav tako v eni sezoni zaradi svoje svojega truda ter požrtvovalne igre postal ljubljenec navijačev. Za izbrano vrsto Litve pa je zbral 25 nastopov, dosegel pa je tudi 1 zadetek.
Žaliukas morda res ni bil najbolj talentiran nogometaš na svetu, a je vse skupaj nadomestil s svojo srčnostjo, s katero je navduševal navijače vseh ekip, za katere je kdajkoli igral.
Številne so se mu tudi poklonile s čustvenimi zapisi na socialnih omrežjih.
Everyone at Heart of Midlothian Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of Scottish Cup winning captain Marius Zaliukas.
— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) October 31, 2020
A full tribute will follow, but for now we send our love to Marius' family and friends.
That win was for you, skipper 🏆 ♥️ pic.twitter.com/kH7aHePOSi
#RangersFC is tonight shocked and saddened to hear of the death of former player Marius Zaliukas at the age of just 36.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 31, 2020
The thoughts of the directors, management and players of Rangers are with Marius’ family at this sad and difficult timehttps://t.co/AZfWenWpX9 pic.twitter.com/Z3P5l6jCww
The thoughts of everyone at #LUFC are with the friends and family of former defender Marius Žaliūkas who has sadly passed away at 36 pic.twitter.com/ph8vmd9NaM
— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 31, 2020
Devastated doesnt even cover it about the untimely death of Marius Zaliukas our leader, our captain, our legend, thanks for giving me the most memorable day of my life back in 2012 beating them to lift that famous trophy! That win tonight was for you Zal 😭🇱🇹❤❤ RIP skipper! pic.twitter.com/3S0TS2283R
— Craig Thomson (@TipsterWeekly) October 31, 2020
This one is for our captain Marius Zaliukas @JamTarts pic.twitter.com/m1vVzmUcv2
— Christopher MacBeth (@macbethchris) October 31, 2020
Marius Zaliukas, forever in our hearts ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #HMFC pic.twitter.com/uH1cnJcNRW
— Callum Andrew Moffat (@CallumMoffat) October 31, 2020
