Joel Pohjanpalo

Joel Pohjanpalo
Personal information
Full name Joel Pohjanpalo
Date of birth (1994-09-13) 13 September 1994
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Number 20
Youth career
2008–2010 HJK Helsinki
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2010–2011 Klubi-04 24 (33)
2011– HJK Helsinki 50 (16)
2013 → Bayer 04 Leverkusen (loan) 0 (0)
2013–2014 → VfR Aalen (loan) 22 (5)
2014– → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 45 (12)
National team‡
Finland U17 3 (0)
2011– Finland U19 3 (0)
2012– Finland U21 10 (2)
2012– Finland 17 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:05, 22 December 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2015

Joel Pohjanpalo (born 13 September 1994), is a Finnish professional football striker who plays for German 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf and represents Finland national team. Pohjanpalo was born in Helsinki, Finland where he played for HJK before he was loaned to Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2013.

Club career

A product of local HJK Helsinki, Pohjanpalo emerged through the youth ranks, first appearing with the reserves in 2011 at the age of 16. During his first season at the third level, he went on making 21 appearances and scoring a record-breaking 33 league goals.[1] Due to his excellent performances with the reserves, Pohjanpalo signed a new contract with HJK on 7 December 2011, keeping him at the Finnish capital until 2015. On August 24, 2012 he rejected a 3-year contract from Liverpool F.C. after a three-day trial unless the guarantee playing time in the Liverpool F.C. reserves.[2]

Pohjanpalo made his Veikkausliiga debut on 26 October 2011, appearing as a starter against RoPS.

On 26 March 2012 Pohjanpalo spent one week on trial at Liverpool. He has been on trial earlier at Monaco.[3]

He later returned to HJK Helsinki and started in the club's first league match of the 2012 Veikkausliiga season on 15 April 2012, scoring a perfect hat-trick within the space of three minutes (162 seconds) against IFK Mariehamn.[4]

He finished his 2012 season with 19 goals in 42 games in all competitions.

In the end of season 2013 he was loaned to German Bundesliga team Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen then loaned him to 2. Bundesliga team VfR Aalen.[5] In Aalen Pohjanpalo played 22 matches out of which he was in the starting line up in 13. He scored 5 goals. In April 2014 he renew his contract with HJK Helsinki until 2018. At the same time HJK extended Pohjanpalo´s loan contract with Bayer Leverkusen with two years which Pohjanpalo will spend on loan in Fortuna Düsseldorf.[6]

He was voted for the 2. Bundesliga Player of the month in October 2014, following his hat-trick against Darmstadt 98.

International career

Pohjanpalo made his senior national team debut on 14 November 2012 in a 3−0 victory against Cyprus when he replaced Teemu Pukki as a substitute on the 70th minute.[7] He was close to score in a friendly against Slovenia when his shot hit the post and was then finished by Hämäläinen. In the next friendly game against Hungary he finished his first international goal coming to field as a substitute and equalising the game.

International goals

Score and Result lists Finland's goals first
As of 8 October 2015
# Date Location Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 March 2014 ETO Park, Győr, Hungary  Hungary 1–1 2–1 friendly
2. 4 September 2015 Karaiskaki Stadium, Athens, Greece  Greece 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
3. 7 September 2015 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland  Faroe Islands 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
4. 8 October 2015 Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania  Romania 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Honours

Club

Klubi-04
HJK Helsinki

Statistics

Club

As of 10 August 2013 [8]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Finland League Finnish Cup Europe Total
Veikkausliiga 2011HJK HelsinkiVeikkausliiga10000010
Veikkausliiga 20122811105434219
2013 Veikkausliiga2152020255
Career Total 5016125636824

1Finnish Cup statistics include app & goals in Finnish League Cup.

International

As of 8 October 2015[9]
Finland national team
YearAppsGoals
201210
201310
201491
201563
Total174

References

  1. ↑ Pohjanpalo awarded as "Player of the Year" (Finnish)
  2. ↑ Pohjanpalo signs until 2015 (Finnish)
  3. ↑ Joel Pohjanpalo on trial at Liverpool (Finnish)
  4. ↑ "HJK vs. Mariehamn". Soccerway. 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  5. ↑ http://www.palloliitto.fi/uutiset/maajoukkueet/joel-pohjanpalo-siirtyy-saksaan
  6. ↑ http://www.iltasanomat.fi/jalkapallo/art-1288682468088.html
  7. ↑ "Huuhkajat selkeään voittoon" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Palloverkko
  9. ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 2 April 2015.

External links

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