Linas Pilibaitis (born 5 April 1985) is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays as a attacking midfielder for FK TransINVEST.
Club career
Pilibaitis was born in Kretinga. He joined Kaunas aged 17 in 2002, gradually working his way into the first team as he developed in the following years. This process was aided by a loan spell at Klaipėda side FK Atlantas in 2004, where he scored his first senior goal. Having played a prominent role in Kaunas's 2006 A Lyga victory, he was loaned to Hearts in January 2007.[1] He made his debut for the Jambos in a 2–0 victory at Motherwell on 5 March 2007 but returned to Kaunas in August of that year, having made only five appearances for the Hearts first team.
Pilibaitis scored the winning goal for Kaunas which knocked out Rangers of the second qualifying tie of the UEFA Champions League on 6 August 2008.[2] He joined than in January 2009 to Győri ETO FC.
In July 2012 he started a trial with Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.
On 26 February 2017, it was announced that Pilibaitis would return to A Lyga contenders Atlantas.[3]
International career
Usually played as an attacking midfielder or support striker, Pilibaitis earned his first international cap for Lithuania in 2006.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Kaunas | 2002 | A Lyga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2005 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 | ||
| 2006 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2008 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | ||
| Total | 77 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 11 | ||
| Atlantas (loan) | 2004 | A Lyga | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Heart of Midlothian (loan) | 2006–07 | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Győr | 2008–09 | National Championship | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 5 |
| 2009–10 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 36 | 5 | ||
| 2011–12 | 27 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Total | 99 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 133 | 15 | ||
| Mezőkövesd | 2013–14 | National Championship | 11 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| FK Žalgiris | 2013–14 | A Lyga | 33 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 21 |
| 2014–15 | 29 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 18 | ||
| 2015–16 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 12 | ||
| Total | 87 | 41 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 107 | 51 | ||
| Career total | 288 | 62 | 42 | 12 | 19 | 6 | 349 | 80 | ||
Honours
Kaunas
- A Lyga: 2002, 2004, 2006
- Lithuanian Cup: 2002, 2004, 2005
Győr
FK Žalgiris
TransINVEST
- Lithuanian Cup: 2023
References
- ^ Hearts bring in three new players, BBC Sport, 31 January 2007
- ^ "Rangers suffer KO in Kaunas". Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ ""Atlantas" jau pasirengęs mūšiams" (in Lithuanian). FK Atlantas. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
External links
- Linas Pilibaitis at Soccerbase
- Linas Pilibaitis at National-Football-Teams.com
- Appearances at londonhearts.com
- Linas Pilibaitis at Soccerway
