Aki Riihilahti
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Aki Riihilahti
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aki Pasinpoika Riihilahti | ||
| Date of birth | 9 September 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1994 | HJK Helsinki | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1999 | HJK Helsinki | 62 | (11) |
| 1996 | → FC Honka (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1999–2001 | Vålerenga IF | 47 | (5) |
| 2001–2006 | Crystal Palace | 157 | (13) |
| 2006–2007 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 10 | (1) |
| 2007–2009 | Djurgårdens IF | 12 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | HJK Helsinki | 40 | (6) |
| Total | 301 | (33) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1998–2007 | Finland | 69 | (11) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Aki Pasinpoika Riihilahti (born 9 September 1976 in Helsinki) is a retired Finnish footballer. He is known as a hard working, defensive midfielder.
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Club career
Riihilahti started his career at HJK where he made his Veikkausliiga debut in 1995. He won the Finnish championship once and the Finnish Cup twice with HJK, and also gained UEFA Champions League experience in the 1998–99 season. Riihilahti then moved to Norway's Vålerenga I.F. for the 1999 season.
After two seasons in Norway he joined England's Crystal Palace in 2001, eventually becoming a fans' favourite at the club. In Palace's 2004–05 Premier League season he showed he has what it takes to play in one of Europe's top leagues. Aki was so loved by the Crystal Palace faithful that a Finnish flag with the legend 'AKI 15' across the centre was hung behind one of the Selhurst Park goals for the entire Premier League season. However, his next season, back in the Championship, following Palace's relegation, was not so successful because injuries limited his chances. Despite not playing for most of his last season with Palace, Aki holds the club record for gaining the most caps for his country whilst at Palace.
After his contract with Palace expired in the summer of 2006, Riihilahti was picked up by 1. FC Kaiserslautern on a one-year deal. In June 2007, Riihilathi signed a two and a half year deal with Stockholm club Djurgårdens IF and on 31 July 2009 returned to Finland to sign with HJK. On 29 October 2011 Riihilahti celebrated his 100th league match for HJK by scoring once, in the last match of the season, in a 5−2 home win against Haka.
International career
Riihilahti made his debut for the Finnish national team on 5 February 1998 against Cyprus. He has been a regular for Finland for the most of 2000s and is set to continue to do so in the near future.
Personal
Riihilahti has also become something of a cult figure because of columns he writes for newspapers, such as The Times and the Finnish Iltalehti.
Honours
HJK Helsinki
- Finnish Championship: 1997, 2009, 2010, 2011
- Finnish Cup: 1996, 1998, 2011
- Finnish League Cup: 1996, 1997, 1998
Crystal Palace
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Aki Riihilahti |
- Profile HJK.fi (Finnish)
- Stats Veikkausliiga.com (Finnish)
- Aki Riihilahti - The Official Homepage
- Aki Riihilahti profile ESPN Soccernet
- Aki Riihilahti National Football Teams
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