Jari Olavi Litmanen is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen is widely considered to be Finland's greatest football player of all time. He was chosen as the best Finnish player of the last 50 years by the Football Association of Finland in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. He also finished 42nd in the 100 Greatest Finns voting in 2004. The Association of Football Statisticians' compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers' listed Litmanen as the 53rd best footballer ever.
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of association football in Finland, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja since 1930 which was an amateur or semi-professional league. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided as a knock-out cup competition.
Ari-Juhani Hjelm is a Finnish football coach and former player. He was the head coach of home-town club Tampere United in Finland's Veikkausliiga.
Jari Niemi is a retired Finnish footballer. He has played for R.A.E.C. Mons, Standard Liège and K. Sint-Truidense V.V. in Belgium. In the Finnish Veikkausliiga Niemi has also played for TPV Tampere, FC Haka and Tampere United, and has won five Finnish championships. During the second qualifying round of the 2007/2008 Champions League edition, Niemi scored the only goal in Tampere's prestigious 1:0 away win against Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. As Tampere had attained a 1:0 win in their home game, they became the first Finnish side to eliminate a Bulgarian club from the high-profile competition. However, the Finns were unable to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League, as they were eliminated by Norwegian side Rosenborg BK in the third qualifying round.
Pasi Pentti Rautiainen is a Finnish football manager and former player. He made 29 appearances for Finland national football team, scoring one goal.
Jarkko Wiss is a Finnish football manager and a former international footballer, who serves as the manager of Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS).
Përparim Hetemaj is a Finnish football coach and a former professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club HJK. Born in Kosovo, Hetemaj arrived in Finland when he was six years old and played for HJK's youth teams; signing a professional contract in 2004 at age 17. He joined Greek side AEK Athens in 2006, and moved to Twente in 2009. Subsequently, in 2010, he was signed by Brescia and was transferred to Chievo in 2011. Hetemaj played a total of 300 matches in the Serie A, before returning to Finland in 2022 after a season with Reggina in the Serie B.
Hermanni Karl Anton Vuorinen is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Franz Burgmeier is a Liechtenstein former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. Born in Triesen, Burgmeier was a burgeoning footballer and keen skier, until he gave up the latter sport at 16 following a serious injury. Having been a youth player for Triesen, he started his professional career with Vaduz. Burgmeier won several Liechtensteiner Cups with Vaduz, who were promoted to the Swiss Challenge League in 2001, and played in the UEFA Cup. After two unsuccessful attempts to win promotion to the Swiss Super League, Burgmeier left for Aarau in 2005. He spent only one season with Aarau before a move to the previous season's runners-up Basel in 2006. His two seasons with Basel were broken up by a loan spell with Thun, before he moved to England with Darlington in August 2008, where he played for one year.
Jussi Kujala is a Finnish former footballer. Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, he has since dropped deeper down the field. He was the captain of the Finnish U21 national team in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers.
Tomi Petrescu, is a Finnish professional football winger and attacking midfielder who plays for Finnish club Jyväskylä Blackbird and has represented Finland national under-21 football team. Petrescu was born in Jyväskylä, Finland where he played for the local JJK youth team before moving to Leicester City F.C.
Ats Purje is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Tallinna Kalev.
Mathias Jarl Valentin Lindström is a retired Finnish footballer, who played as a central defender. He has played for FC Inter Turku, AC Allianssi, Fredrikstad FK, Tampere United and HJK Helsinki. Lindström last represented FC Inter Turku.
Henri Myntti is a Finnish retired footballer. Since his retirement, he has been a chairman of KPV.
Teemu Eino Antero Pukki is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Veikkausliiga club HJK and the Finland national team.
Henri Aalto is a Finnish former professional footballer who last played as a defender for Finnish Veikkausliiga club Honka. He began his senior club career playing for Honka and made his league debut at age 19 in 2008. He helped Honka win two successive League Cup titles and the Finnish Cup.
Juhani Ojala is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Veikkausliiga club Gnistan. Ojala was born in Vantaa, Finland where he played for the local youth team before moving to HJK's organisation.
Tim Väyrynen is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Veikkausliiga club Gnistan.
Robin Lod is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer franchise Minnesota United and the Finland national team. Lod was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for Klubi 04, before making his league debut for HJK at age 18 in 2011. After winning his first trophy, the Veikkausliiga, during his second season on league level, he helped HJK win three successive Veikkausliiga titles, Cup and League Cup.
Pyry Soiri is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Super League Greece club Athens Kallithea and the Finland national team.
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