Marius Stankevičius

Marius Stankevičius was born in Kaunas (Lithuania), on July 15, 1981.

Source Lazio Wiki

He started his football career with Ekranas in the town of Panevézýs in his homeland. From the youth side he then made his way up to the first team squad and between 1998 to 2002 he played 87 league games with 3 goals. He won two domestic cups and one Super Cup.

In January 2002 he joined Brescia in Serie A. He only played 2 league games under Carlo Mazzone and the Rondinelle (Swallows) finished 13th. The squad included Lazio connections, Antonio and Emanuele Filippini, Simone Del Nero and Igli Tare but also Roberto Baggio, Luca Toni and Pep Guardiola.

In 2002-03 he stayed on at Brescia but only until January, playing 6 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia, still under Mazzone.

In January he joined Cosenza on loan for 6 months in Serie B. The manager was first Emiliano Mondonico, then Sandro Salvioni and finally Antonio Sala. Stankevičius played 8 league games and the Lupi della Sila were relegated.

In 2003 he returned to Brescia and stayed five seasons (2 in A and 3 in B). He played another 151 league games with 11 goals, 14 in Coppa Italia and 1 in the Intertoto Cup. Brescia finished 11th, 19th (relegated), 10th, 6th and 5th. His managers included Gianni De Biasi, Alberto Cavasin, Zdeněk Zeman and Serse Cosmi. The various squads included Lazio connections: Stefano Mauri, Del Nero, Gigi Di Biagio, Francelino Matuzalém, Antonio Filippini and Matías Almeyda.

In 2008 he signed for Sampdoria in A. He played 30 league games with 3 goals (Lecce, Lazio, Palermo), 5 in Coppa Italia and 8 in the UEFA Cup. The Blucerchiati finished 13th under Walter Mazzarri. They reached the final of Coppa Italia but lost to Lazio on penalties. The following season he stayed on but only until January, playing another 14 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia under Luigi Delneri.

In January 2010 he joined Sevilla on loan in the Liga. He played 16 league games, 2 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Europa League. The manager was Manuel Jiménez Jiménez and the Sevillistas finished 4th. The Rojiblancos won silverware by defeating Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Copa del Rey final.

After the six-month loan Stankevičius returned to Sampdoria but only played 2 games in the Champions League preliminary (lost 4-5 to Werder Bremen a.e.t) before being loaned to Valencia. In Andalusia his teammates included future Lazio, Abdoulay Konko.

Back in Spain he played 21 league games with 2 goals (Osasuna, Almería) and 4 games in the Copa del Rey. The Blanquinegros finished 3rd (CL) under Unai Emery.

In 2011 Stankevičius signed for Lazio and stayed two seasons. In the first, under Edy Reja, Lazio finished 4th (EL) and won both derbies. He played 11 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 1 in the Europa League. The following season Vladimir Petković arrived as manager and the Biancocelesti finished 7th after a promising first half of the season. There was eternal glory however in the Coppa Italia as on the 26th of May Lazio defeated city rivals Roma 1-0 (Lulic '71) to lift the Cup. Stankevicius only played 3 league games.

In 2013 he left Italy and moved to Turkey where he played a season for Gaziantepspor in the top flight. He played 29 league games and 1 in the Turkish Cup. The Şahinler (Falcons) finished 15th and narrowly avoided relegation.

In 2014 -15 he played in Germany for a season with Hannover 96. He only played 2 league games under Michael Frontzeck and "Die Roten" (Reds) finished 13th.

In 2015-16 he was back in Spain. This time with Cordoba in the Segunda División. He played 39 league games and Los Califas finished 5th (then lost in the playoffs to Girona).

In 2016-17 he was back in Italy with Siena in Lega Pro (3rd tier). He played 27 league games and 1 in the LP Coppa Italia. The Bianconeri finished 12th under two different managers, Giovanni Colella and Cristiano Scazzola. One of his teammates was former Lazio, Ettore Mendicino.

His last two years of professional football were spent with Crema (Cremona) in Serie D. He played 45 games with 2 goals and the Cremini finished 8th and 6th.

In 2020 he had a brief experience back home with amateur side Komanda but it only lasted just over a month.

At almost 39 he retired.

At international level he won 65 caps for Lithuania with 5 goals (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Austria, Serbia, Spain). In 2008 and 2009 he was voted Lithuanian Player of the Year.

He then went into coaching which he had already been doing at Crema as a player-manager in 2018-19. He was then assistant at Kauno Žalgiris, head coach of Lithuania U17s and assistant coach of Lithuania national side. In 2020-21 he returned to Italy and coached Lumezzane in Eccellenza (5th tier) finishing 2nd. He then went back to Kauno Žalgiris. He is currently with TransINVEST in the Lithuanian second flight.

Stankevičius was a defender who could play on both sides. He was strong at 1.90 and 85 kilos and good in the air. One of his specialities was his long throw-in which could reach up to 35 metres.

He had a good club career playing in Italian, Spanish, German and Turkish top leagues. He played 547 professional games.

At Lazio he was not a regular but was in the 2013 squad that won the epic Coppa Italia derby cup final. He was on the bench that memorable day.

Lazio Career

Season	Total Appearances	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Europa League
2011-12	13	11	1	1
2012-13	3	3	-	-
Total	16	14	1	1

Sources

Wikipedia