Miika Koppinen

Miika Koppinen

Koppinen in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Miika Johannes Koppinen
Date of birth	(1978-07-05) 5 July 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Kokkola, Finland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Centre defender
Youth career
	KPV
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–1998	KPV	19	(2)
1999	Jaro	26	(5)
2000–2004	Tromsø	121	(4)
2005–2007	Rosenborg	41	(5)
2008–2014	Tromsø	154	(9)
International career
	Finland U21	8	(0)
2000–2006	Finland	18	(0)
Managerial career
2015–	Finnsnes IL (assistant)
Medal record FF Jaro Runner-up Finnish Cup 1999 Rosenborg BK Winner Tippeligaen 2006 Tromsø IL Runner-up Tippeligaen 2011
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 February 2015

Miika Johannes Koppinen (born 5 July 1978) is a Finnish football coach and former international player who is currently an assistant coach at Finnsnes IL. Koppinen played professional football as a central defender from 1998 to 2014. He started his career in Finland before moving to Norway to play for Tromsø IL and Rosenborg BK. Koppinen won 18 caps for the Finland national football team and made 337 appearances for Tromsø, the third-highest number of appearances by any player for the club.

Club career

Early years

He first played youth football for KPS (Kokkolan Palloseura) before moving on to KPV in his home town of Kokkola. He made his debut for KPV in 1998 at 19 years of age, before moving to second division side FF Jaro in 1999. The club managed to reach the final of the Suomen Cup, before losing 2–1 to FC Jokerit.

Move to Norway

He joined Norwegian side Tromsø in 2000. Tromsø got fourth place in his first season, but a disappointing second season saw Tromsø relegated to the Norwegian first division. Tromsø responded quickly though and got back to the top-flight after one season. Two more seasons followed at Tromsø before securing a move to Rosenborg on a free transfer.

Rosenborg

At his first season at Rosenborg, Koppinen found himself injured for much of the season which limited his Premier Division appearances to only six games. He got himself back at the end of the season, also playing for his side during the group stages of the Champions League. A disappointing season saw Rosenborg in seventh place, the worst league position for decades.

In 2006 Koppinen helped Rosenborg win the Premier League, playing sixteen games. In the penultimate match of the 2006 Norwegian Premier League, Koppinen notably set up Rosenborg's deciding third goal against Viking by grabbing Viking's goalkeeper Mattias Asper's elbow, causing him to drop the ball. At the time, it seemed likely that the goal would lead to relegation for Viking. ^[1] In post-match interviews, Koppinen initially denied any wrongdoing, ^[2] but two days later he called Viking's director Egil Østenstad and asked for forgiveness, citing it was the Rosenborg way and he did not like it. Because of this, he is regarded as an unfair player and his name is associated with lack of sportsmanship in the same way Quisling is with treason. ^[3]

The following season in 2007 was yet another difficult season for his side, which resulted in only a fifth-place finish. On 18 September 2007 he scored for Rosenborg in a Champions League game at Stamford Bridge in a shock 1–1 draw against Chelsea F.C. This proved to be the last game during José Mourinho's Chelsea reign. ^[4]

Return to Tromsø

In 2008, he moved back to Tromsø IL, and became vice-captain and later club captain. Koppinen helped his side to third places in the league in 2008 and 2010, and a second place in 2011. After suffering relegation in 2013, his last season helped the club win promotion before he at the end of the 2014 season retired as a player. Koppinen stated that the decision to retire was taken for medical reasons hampering his ability to train and perform. ^[5]

International career

He has played eight times for the Finnish U21 team. In 2000, he made his debut for the full national side in a game against Norway.

He played a total of eighteen games for Finland before stepping down in 2006, citing personal reasons. However four years later, in October 2010, he was called back to the national team to play a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Hungary, but in the end he did not belong to the final squad because of an injury.

Coaching career

In January 2015 Koppinen joined Finnsnes IL as assistant coach to Bjørn Johansen, a former teammate from Tromsø. ^[6]

Personal life

He is married to a woman from Tromsø and has two children. He is fluent in Norwegian.

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 September 2024. ^{[7] [8]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [lower-alpha 1]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KPV	1997	Kakkonen	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	1998	Ykkönen	19	2	0	0	–		19	2
	Total		19	2	0	0	0	0	19	2
Jaro	1999	Ykkönen	26	5	0	0	–		26	5
Tromsø	2000	Tippeligaen	22	0	0	0	–		22	0
	2001	Tippeligaen	25	2	3	0	–		28	2
	2002	1. divisjon	25	1	4	1	–		29	2
	2003	Tippeligaen	24	0	5	0	–		29	0
	2004	Tippeligaen	25	1	4	0	–		29	1
	Total		121	4	16	1	0	0	137	5
Rosenborg	2005	Tippeligaen	7	0	3	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	11	0
	2006	Tippeligaen	16	1	0	0	–		16	1
	2007	Tippeligaen	19	5	0	0	6 [lower-alpha 3]	2	25	7
	Total		42	6	3	0	7	2	52	8
Tromsø	2008	Tippeligaen	20	2	0	0	–		20	2
	2009	Tippeligaen	23	2	0	0	5 [lower-alpha 4]	0	28	2
	2010	Tippeligaen	27	2	1	0	–		28	2
	2011	Tippeligaen	22	1	0	0	–		22	1
	2012	Tippeligaen	19	1	4	0	6 [lower-alpha 4]	1	29	2
	2013	Tippeligaen	23	1	2	0	9 [lower-alpha 4]	1	34	2
	2014	1. divisjon	22	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	24	0
	Total		156	9	7	0	22	2	185	11
Tromsø 2	2012	2. divisjon	1	0	–		–		1	0
Career total			365	26	26	1	29	4	420	31

1. Includes Suomen Cup and Norwegian Cup
2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

^[9]

Finland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2000	2	0
2001	4	0
2002	3	0
2003	4	0
2004	4	0
2005	0	0
2006	1	0
Total	18	0

Honours

Rosenborg

• Tippeligaen: 2006

References

1. Sletvold, Espen (29 October 2006). "Asper raste mot Ditlefsen". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
2. Sletvold, Espen (29 October 2006). "- Ikke dårlig samvittighet". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 23 June 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
3. Larsen, Jan-Erik (1 November 2006). "Koppinen ringte inn unnskyldning". aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
4. "Chelsea 1–1 Rosenborg". BBC. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
5. "TIL-legende legger opp" (in Norwegian). Mediehuset iTromsø. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
6. "En fin mulighet for meg" (in Norwegian). Folkebladet. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
7. Miika Koppinen stats, Norwegian FA
8. Miika Koppinen stats, WorldFootball
9. "Suomen Palloliitto - Koppinen Miika". Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.

External links

• Miika Koppinen profile at Tromsø IL at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-08-04)(in Norwegian)
• Miika Koppinen – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Miika Koppinen at National-Football-Teams.com
• Miika Koppinen at Soccerway