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When Arvydas Novikovas signed his first professional contract, he was only seventeen years old. He went to the Edinburgh Hearts Club, which at the time belonged to Vladimir Romanov, where Marius Žaliūkas was the only Lithuanian left.
Seven years older than the young talent, the captain of the Hearts began to take care of A. Novikov and thus get used to him in a foreign country and in a foreign environment.
“When I went to Edinburgh, he always helped me, anytime, anywhere. For me he was an older brother with whom we celebrated Christmas and New Years together every year we were in Scotland. Very often I stayed to spend the night with him because he was a very close person to me.
When I left Hearts, our paths parted. There was no such close communication and it is a pity. I couldn’t even say goodbye to him. I had known for a long time that he was ill, I tried to write to him, but he never wanted to talk about it. All in all, when we last saw him, despite the illness, he still looked very vibrant.
A fantastic man with a deep heart. It was impossible to get angry and positivity was creeping up on the edges. Even if he somehow managed to piss Marius off, it would take ten seconds at the most. He just didn’t pay to get mad.
Marius was very family oriented and dedicated. For example, when he found out he was ill, he sent his entire collection of t-shirts to Edinburgh to raise money to sell them and help Hearts survive. Such feats, exceptional play, and being a true captain in Scotland made him a legend.
Until now, everyone remembers him that way, and my former colleagues wrote me a lot of messages yesterday asking if they could come to Lithuania one last time to say goodbye to him. This is very important to them. Especially the day Hearts beat Hibernian and made it to the cup final after a while. Strange coincidence … “, – said A. Novikov.
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