Mika Väyrynen

Mika Väyrynen (born 28 December 1981) is a Finnish footballer. He is a Finland international, with 59 caps since 2002.

Club career

Early career

Väyrynen started his career with FC Lahti and joined FC Jokerit for the 2001 season.

Heerenveen

Midway through that year SC Heerenveen beat Inter to his signature, Väyrynen opting for the Dutch club in order to have a better chance of a regular place. He immediately broke into the Heerenveen side, though the switch from a summer to winter season meant he began to suffer from injury problems. However, in 2003–04 he became their key player in midfield, and ended up scoring 17 goals in 100 Eredivisie games.

PSV Eindhoven

In the summer of 2005 Väyrynen took the next step in his career by joining Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. "PSV is the best option for me. At Heerenveen I learned to play more simple football. I am not the player I was in Finland any more, tactically and physically especially I have grown a lot," said Väyrynen. He was brought in to replace Mark Van Bommel by PSV manager Guus Hiddink. He was, however, ruled out for much of the early 2005–06 season with an ankle injury. Väyrynen returned to action as a substitute on 17 December 2005 against Willem II, and immediately scored his first goal for PSV. He was not able to earn a regular starting place in the spring season, and mostly made substitute appearances, as PSV secured the Dutch title for the second year in a row.

Väyrynen was linked with a move to Rangers^[2] and newly promoted Premier League side Derby County as they looked to strengthen for the 2007–08 season. Väyrynen almost moved to Derby in August 2007, but the move collapsed because of a calf injury.

In the summer of 2008 however, he was again linked with Rangers F.C and an undisclosed Belgian team, believed to be Club Bruges.^[3] He was also linked with Derby County for the second time on 22 July 2008, according to Derby's local radio, despite their relegation to the Championship.

Heerenveen

31 August 2008, two days before the closing of the transfer window, he was signed back to his previous club SC Heerenveen to a contract until 2011 with an option of one year more.^[4][5] He picked up a knee injury in a January 2009 match against AFC Ajax, which ruled him out of play until the end of 2009. In his final season at SC Heerenveen he scored 9 league goals for the club in 30 games.

Leeds United

On 13 September 2011, Väyrynen, now a free agent, signed a one-year deal, with an option of a further year, with English Championship side Leeds United.^[6] Väyrynen was rumoured to have been on the verge of signing Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg at the time Leeds came in for him.^[7][8]

In signing for Leeds, Väyrynen joined his international compatriot Mikael Forssell at Elland Road. Väyrynen made his first appearance in a Leeds squad on 20 September, he was named on the bench against fierce rivals Manchester United, and was brought on with his fellow countryman in the 52nd minute.^[9] Vayrynen made his league debut as a substitute in the 3-3 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 23 September, coming on for the last nine minutes.^[10] He made his Elland Road league debut against Portsmouth on 1 October, coming on as a second half substitute in a 1-0 win.^[11] He made his first start for Leeds on 22 October, coming into the side for the injured Robert Snodgrass against Peterborough United.^[12]

Vayrynen was ruled out for a few weeks when he had groin surgery which also ruled him out of some of the International Fixtures with Finland. ^[13] Vayrynen returned as a substitute against Leeds against Watford on 10 December, and he made an immediate impact when he won an injury time penalty for Leeds to equalise.^[14] His second start came in Leeds 4–1 loss against Barnsley on 31 December 2011.^[15]

On 16 April, Leeds united terminated Väyrynens contract by mutual consent after eight months at the club.^[16]

HJK Helsinki

Since leaving Leeds, he has been training with HJK in order to maintain match fitness. On 10 July, HJK announced that Väyrynen had signed a three-month contract with the club.^[17] He made his debut one week later, scoring from a penalty, in a 7−0 home win against KR Reykjavik in Champions League qualifiers. He made in total of 12 league appearances, scoring three goals, as HJK were crowned as league champions for the fourth consecutive season.

On 1 February 2013, Väyrynen signed a two-year contract extension with HJK.

LA Galaxy

In February 2015, Väyrynen trialed with LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer and signed with them on 6 March 2015.^[18] On 15 March 2015 Väyrynen made his debut against the Portland Timbers, coming off the bench in the 62nd minute and replacing Baggio Husidic; the match ended in a 2–2 draw.^[19]

International career

Väyrynen is a key player for the Finnish national team. He made his debut on 20 March 2002 against South Korea. Väyrynen's breakthrough for Finland came in June 2003, when he was the star performer in matches against Serbia and Montenegro and Italy. Väyrynen was also a key player for Finland at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Career stats

Club

International

As of 7 March 2015^[20]

International goals

Finland's score first.

#	Date	Location	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 August 2006	Helsinki	Northern Ireland	1–2	Lose	Friendly
2.	2 September 2006	Bydgoszcz	Poland	3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3.	10 September 2008	Helsinki	Germany	3-3	Draw	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	3 March 2010	Ta'Qali	Malta	2-1	Win	Friendly
5.	17 November 2010	Helsinki	San Marino	8-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours

PSV

• Dutch Championship: 2005–06, 2006–07

• KNVB Cup: 1

2009

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2012, 2013, 2014
• Finnish Cup: 2014

References

External links

• Mikä Väyrynen at Leeds United A.F.C.
• Mika Väyrynen – UEFA competition record
• Mika Väyrynen – FIFA competition record
• Mika Väyrynen at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mika Väyrynen profile at Soccerway
• (Finnish) Profile at FA of Finland's official website
• Mika Väyrynen Fansite
• Profile at ESPNsoccernet
• www.psvweb.nl profile