Mihkel Aksalu

Mihkel Aksalu

Aksalu with Estonia in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Mihkel Aksalu [1]
Date of birth	(1984-11-07) 7 November 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Kuressaare, Estonia
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Paide Linnameeskond
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2002	Sörve	39	(0)
2000	Kuressaare	1	(0)
2003	HÜJK Emmaste	10	(0)
2003–2005	Tervis Pärnu	29	(0)
2003–2009	Flora	115	(0)
2004	Lelle	2	(0)
2006	Flora II	6	(0)
2010–2012	Sheffield United	0	(0)
2010	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	2	(0)
2012	Flora II	1	(0)
2012	Flora	7	(0)
2013–2019	SJK	221	(0)
2021–	Paide Linnameeskond	50	(0)
International career‡
1999–2000	Estonia U16	4	(0)
	Estonia U17	2	(0)
2003	Estonia U20	1	(0)
2004–2007	Estonia U21	13	(0)
2007–	Estonia	46	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 August 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 November 2021

Mihkel Aksalu (born 7 November 1984) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Meistriliiga club Paide Linnameeskond.

Club career

Kuressaare

Aksalu joined the youth system of his hometown club Kuressaare and played for their reserve team Muhumaa (renamed Sörve in 2002). He made his debut in the Meistriliiga in his single appearance for Kuressaare on 23 September 2000, in a 4–1 away win over Valga.

Flora

In December 2002, Aksalu was included in Flora's first team squad for pre-season training. ^[2] During his first seasons with the club, he mostly played for the club's reserve side Tervis Pärnu. Aksalu became a regular starter for Flora in the 2006 season. His first trophy with Flora came in the 2007–08 Estonian Cup.

Sheffield United

On 29 January 2010, following a successful trial, Aksalu signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Sheffield United for a transfer fee of £180,000. Kevin Blackwell, Sheffield United's manager at the time, claimed Aksalu was the best goalkeeping triallist he had seen in a long time and had the potential to become Estonia's number one. ^[3] However, Aksalu failed to impress new manager Gary Speed and was unable to break into the first team.

On 6 October 2010, Aksalu joined Conference National club Mansfield Town on a two-month loan. ^{[4] [5]} He remained sidelined through most of his spell due to an abdominal muscle problem, making only three appearances before returning to Bramall Lane in December. After a lengthy spell on the sidelines following back surgery, Aksalu was released by the club on 19 January 2012. ^[6]

Return to Flora

Following his release, Aksalu returned to Estonia and began training with his former club Flora to regain his fitness. He rejoined the team on 9 April 2012. ^[7]

SJK

Aksalu with SJK in 2015

On 4 April 2013, Aksalu signed a one-year contract with Ykkönen club SJK. ^[8] He made his debut for the team on 4 May 2013, in a 2–1 home win over PK-35 Vantaa. SJK won the 2013 Ykkönen and were promoted to the Veikkausliiga. In October 2013, Aksalu signed a new two-year contract with the club. ^[9] On 24 August 2015, his contract was extended to 2017. ^[10] Aksalu won the Veikkausliiga title in the 2015 season. ^[11] He was named league's Best Goalkeeper and SJK's Player of the Year. ^[12] Aksalu was named club captain ahead of the 2016 season. On 24 September 2016, Aksalu helped his team win the 2016 Finnish Cup by saving two penalties in a shootout against HJK in the final. ^[13]

International career

Aksalu has represented Estonia at under-16, under-17, under-20 and under-21 levels, amassing 20 youth appearances overall. ^[14]

He made his senior international debut for Estonia on 17 October 2007, playing the first half of a friendly match against Montenegro, where he conceded the only goal of the game. In 2015, he succeeded Sergei Pareiko as Estonia's number one goalkeeper.

With the emergence of young Karl Hein, Aksalu was left out of the national team selection in 2020 and 2021. However, with the whole team's isolation due to COVID-19 in March 2021 and Hein's injury in November 2021, Aksalu was recalled to the national team to face Belgium and Czech Republic for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 December 2023. ^{[1] [15] [16]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		League Cup [b]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sörve	2000	Esiliiga	11	0			—		—		—		11	0
	2001	II liiga	16	0			—		—		—		16	0
	2002		12	0			—		—		—		12	0
	Total		39	0			—		—		—		39	0
Kuressaare	2000	Meistriliiga	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
HÜJK Emmaste	2003	II liiga	10	0	0	0	—		—		—		10	0
Tervis Pärnu	2003	Esiliiga	7	0	1	0	—		—		2 [c]	0	10	0
	2004		15	0	1	0	—		—		—		16	0
	2005		7	0	0	0	—		—		—		7	0
	Total		29	0	2	0	—		—		2	0	33	0
Flora	2003	Meistriliiga	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	1	0
	2005		8	0	3	0	—		0	0	—		11	0
	2006		15	0	2	0	—		0	0	1 [d]	0	18	0
	2007		30	0	0	0	—		2 [e]	0	4 [f]	0	36	0
	2008		30	0	2	0	—		2 [e]	0	2 [f]	0	36	0
	2009		31	0	3	0	—		2 [e]	0	3 [g]	0	39	0
	Total		115	0	10	0	—		6	0	10	0	141	0
Lelle	2004	II liiga	2	0	0	0	—		—		—		2	0
Flora II	2006	Esiliiga	6	0	0	0	—		—		—		6	0
Sheffield United	2009–10	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2010–11		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2011–12	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Mansfield Town (loan)	2010–11	Conference National	2	0	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	3	0
Flora II	2012	Esiliiga	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
Flora	2012	Meistriliiga	7	0	2	0	—		0	0	0	0	9	0
SJK	2013	Ykkönen	26	0	0	0	—		—		—		26	0
	2014	Veikkausliiga	30	0	2	0	6	0	—		—		38	0
	2015		32	0	1	0	3	0	2 [e]	0	—		38	0
	2016		31	0	2	0	4	0	2 [h]	0	—		39	0
	2017		32	0	6	0	—		2 [e]	0	—		40	0
	2018		18	0	6	0	—		—		—		24	0
	2019		15	0	2	0	—		—		—		17	0
	Total		184	0	19	0	13	0	6	0	—		222	0
Paide Linnameeskond	2021	Meistriliiga	27	0	4	0	-		6	0	-		37	0
	2022		17	0	1	0	-		2	0	-		20	0
	2023		4	0	1	0	-		-		-		5	0
	Total		48	0	6	0	-		8	0	-		62	0
Total			444	0	40	0	13	0	20	0	12	0	529	0

1. Includes the Estonian Cup, FA Cup and Finnish Cup
2. Includes the Finnish League Cup
3. Appearances in Esiliiga promotion play-offs
4. Appearance in Estonian Supercup
5. Appearances in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in Baltic League
7. One appearance in Estonian Supercup, two appearances in Baltic League
8. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 26 March 2019. ^[17]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Estonia
	2007	2	0
	2008	3	0
	2009	1	0
	2010	3	0
	2012	1	0
	2013	1	0
	2014	3	0
	2015	7	0
	2016	8	0
	2017	8	0
	2018	7	0
	2019	1	0
	2021	1	0
Total		46	0

Honours

Club

Flora

• Estonian Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09
• Estonian Supercup: 2009

SJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2015
• Ykkönen: 2013
• Finnish Cup: 2016
• Finnish League Cup: 2014

Individual

• Baltic League Best Goalkeeper: 2007
• Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: May 2015 ^[18]
• Veikkausliiga Goalkeeper of the Year: 2015 ^[19]
• SJK Player of the Year: 2015

References

1. "Mihkel Aksalu" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
2. "Flora ja Valga nimetasid koosseisu" [Flora and Valga announce squads] (in Estonian). Delfi Sport. 4 December 2002.
3. "Sheffield United sign Estonia keeper Mihkel Aksalu". BBC Sport. 29 January 2010.
4. "Mansfield Town swoop for keeper Mihkel Aksalu". BBC Sport. 6 October 2010.
5. "Stags loan for Aksalu". The Telegraph. 7 October 2010.
6. "Mihkel Aksalu lahkus Sheffield Unitedist" [Mihkel Aksalu left Sheffield United] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 19 January 2012.
7. "Mihkel Aksalu liitus taas FC Floraga" [Mihkel Aksalu rejoined FC Flora] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 9 April 2012.
8. "Ametlik: Mihkel Aksalust sai Seinäjoki mängija" [Official: Mihkel Aksalu became Seinäjoki's player] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 4 April 2013.
9. "Aksalu pikendas kõrgliigasse tõusva SJK-ga lepingut" [Aksalu extended his contract with top flight-promoted SJK] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 30 October 2013.
10. "Eesti jalgpallikoondise väravavaht pikendas Soomes lepingut" [Estonia national team extended his contract in Finland] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 24 August 2015.
11. "Mihkel Aksalu ja SJK võitsid Soome meistritiitli" [Mihkel Aksalu and SJK won the Finnish championship] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 25 October 2015.
12. "Mihkel Aksalu valiti Soome kõrgliigas hooaja parimaks väravavahiks" [Mihkel Aksalu named best goalkeeper in the Finnish top flight] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 30 October 2015.
13. "Mihkel Aksalu kaks penaltitõrjet aitasid SJK Soome karikafinaalis võidule" [Mihkel Aksalu's two saves in the final helped SJK win the Finnish Cup] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 24 September 2016.
14. "Aksalu, Mihkel" (in Estonian). ESBL.
15. "M. Aksalu". Soccerway.com.
16. "Mihkel Aksalu". National-Football-Teams.com.
17. "Mihkel Aksalu" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
18. SJK:n Mihkel Aksalu toukokuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
19. Kai (30 October 2015). "Tässä ovat Captain's Ball -futisgaalan kaikki palkitut tahot". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.

External links

• Mihkel Aksalu at the Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
• Mihkel Aksalu national team profile at the Estonian Football Association ( archive ) (in Estonian)
• Mihkel Aksalu – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Mihkel Aksalu – FIFA competition record (archived)