Nerijus Barasa

Nerijus Barasa (born 1 June 1978 in Mažeikiai) is a former Lithuanian professional footballer. He played as a right-back or defensive midfielder.

Nerijus Barasa
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-06-01) 1 June 1978
Place of birth Mažeikiai, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder
Right back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994 Mažeikių Romar 6 (0)
1995 Atlantas Klaipėda 1 (0)
1996 Baltika Liepāja 3 (0)
1997–1999 Kareda Šiauliai 50 (3)
2000 FBK Kaunas 23 (2)
2001–2002 Krylia Sovetov Samara 15 (0)
2003 FC Lada Togliatti 13 (0)
2003–2005 FC Alania Vladikavkaz 44 (0)
2005 Krylia Sovetov Samara 4 (0)
2005–2007 FBK Kaunas 0 (0)
2006–2007 → Hearts (loan) 14 (0)
National team‡
2001–2006 Lithuania 26 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 March 2007
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 March 2007

Career

Barasa started his career with FBK Kaunas in 1994 before joining Atlantas Klaipėda the following season. After a year in Latvia with Baltika Liepāja, he returned to Lithuania with his family, then FBK Kaunas came in for him.

Kaunas beckoned for Barasa in 2001, where he spent the following five seasons; four in the Russian Premier League with FC Krylia Sovetov Samara and FC Alania Vladikavkaz and one in the Russian First Division with FC Lada Togliatti. During this period he was called up to the Lithuanian national team, earning his first cap in 2001.

At the end of the 2005 season, Barasa moved to Scotland, signing for FBK Kaunas, then being immediately loaned to Heart of Midlothian. He joined the Tynecastle side on 13 January 2006 and spent a total of 16 months with the Edinburgh club before moving back to Kaunas.

In October 2006, Barasa was at the centre of controversy when he and compatriot Saulius Mikoliūnas were booed by Hearts fans for perceived poor form in a game against Rangers. This prompted Hearts' Sporting Director Alex Kozlovski to suggest that the supporters had ulterior motives for booing them, expressly their nationality.[1] This claim was contested by fans representative groups and Kozlovski later apologised and retracted it.[2]

Barasa missed half of the 2006–07 season due to injury and left Hearts in the summer of 2007, before also rescinding his contract with Kaunas. After that he retired in order to pursue business interests in Samara, Russia, where he lives with his wife. His last game was against Celtic in the Scottish Premier League on 14 January 2007.

International goals
Scores and results list Lithuania's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
15 July 2001Skonto Stadions, Riga, Latvia Latvia1–01–4Baltic Cup
218 August 2004Dynamo Stadium, Moscow, Russia Russia3–43–4Friendly

Honours

National Team

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References
  1. Fans groups dismiss discrimination claim, Scotsman.com Sport, 21 November 2006.
  2. Kozlovski says sorry, Scotsman.com Sport, 25 November 2006.

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