Mika Ojala
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mika Ojala | ||
| Date of birth | 21 June 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Paimio, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Right winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Inter Turku | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2000 | PaiHa | ||
| 2001–2005 | Inter Turku | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2006 | VG-62 | 39 | (8) |
| 2006–2012 | Inter Turku | 175 | (53) |
| 2013 | BK Häcken | 21 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Inter Turku | 33 | (10) |
| 2015–2017 | VfR Aalen | 47 | (10) |
| 2017– | Inter Turku | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2010 | Finland U21 | 17 | (2) |
| 2010– | Finland | 9 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 August 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 December 2015 | |||
Mika Ojala (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmikɑ ˈojɑlɑ]; (born 21 June 1988) in Paimio, Finland) is a Finnish professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Finnish Veikkausliiga side Inter Turku and represents the Finland national football team.[1] He began his senior club career playing for VG-62, before signing with Inter Turku at age 18 in 2006.
Ojala made his international debut for Finland in January 2010, at the age of 21.
Club career
VG-62
Ojala started his football career in Paimion Haka and later moved to Inter Turku´s junior system. He made his debut on senior level at the age of 16 in Inter Turku´s reserve team VG-62.
Inter Turku
He gained his first appearance in Veikkausliiga during season 2006.
On 17 November 2008 Ojala joined the Dutch club Heerenveen for a one-week-trial together with Wilhelm Ingves from IFK Mariehamn.[2] He visited FC Zürich in 2006.
Häcken
On 9 November 2012, after his contract with Inter had expired, it was announced that Ojala had signed a three-year contract with Swedish topflight club BK Häcken, joining with compatriot Kari Arkivuo.[3]
Return to Inter Turku
He returned to Inter Turku in February 2014 when he signed a contract for season 2014.
Aalen
In the beginning of July 2015 Ojala transferred to German 3. Liga side VfR Aalen.
International career
Ojala was selected in the Finnish national squad by Stuart Baxter in August 2008. He was also a member of the U21 squad that reached the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Ojala made his national team debut on 18 January 2010 as he came from the bench to replace Roni Porokara in friendly match against South Korea at Málaga, Spain where Finland had winter training camp.[4] Ojala gained his second appearance for the national team on 10 August 2011 at Skonto Stadium in a friendly match against Latvia when he and Timo Furuholm replaced Teemu Pukki and Mika Ääritalo as forwards.[5]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | Division | League | Domestic Cups | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Inter Turku | ||||||||||
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 8 | |
| 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 7 | |
| 2010 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 7 | |
| 2011 | Veikkausliiga | 32 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 21 | |
| 2012 | Veikkausliiga | 28 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 15 | |
| Häcken | ||||||||||
| 2013 | Allsvenskan | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| Inter Turku | ||||||||||
| 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 16 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 6 | |
| 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 14 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 7 | |
| Aalen | ||||||||||
| 2015–16 | 3. Liga | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 | |
| 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | |
| Inter Turku Total | 205 | 63 | 38 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 248 | 72 | ||
| Häcken Total | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Aalen Total | 40 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 10 | ||
| Career Total | 266 | 73 | 41 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 314 | 82 | ||
International
Statistics accurate as of matches played on 24 January 2014[8][9]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | |||
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 9 | 0 | |
Honours and achievements
Club
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: August 2008, June 2011, July 2011
- Veikkausliiga Midfielder of the Year: 2008, 2011, 2012
References
- ↑ "Mika Ojala" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ↑ Trial at Heerenveen
- ↑ Mika Ojala siirtyy Ruotsiin (in Finnish)
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-12. (in Finnish)
- ↑ "Näin Huuhkaijen Latvia-ottelu eteni" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/27312/Mika_Ojala.html
- ↑ http://nr.soccerway.com/players/mika-ojala/8315/
- ↑ Mika Ojala at National-Football-Teams.com
- ↑ Palloliitto
External links
- VfR Aalen official profile (in German)
- Mika Ojala – UEFA competition record
- Mika Ojala – FIFA competition record
- Mika Ojala at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mika Ojala at Soccerbase
- Mika Ojala at Soccerway