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Kasper Hämäläinen

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Kasper Hämäläinen
Hämäläinen with Lech Poznań in 2013
Personal information
Full name Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen
Date of birth (1986-08-08) 8 August 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Turku, Finland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 TPS (sporting director)
Youth career
1995–1997 MaPS
1998–2001 Inter Turku
2002–2003 TPS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2010 TPS 97 (12)
2010–2013 Djurgården 90 (8)
2013–2016 Lech Poznań 100 (33)
2016–2019 Legia Warsaw 90 (21)
2019–2020 Jablonec 15 (2)
2019–2020 Jablonec B 8 (1)
2021–2023 TPS 72 (19)
International career
2002 Finland U16 17 (0)
2003 Finland U17 10 (0)
2006–2009 Finland U21 21 (1)
2008–2019 Finland 63 (9)
Managerial career
2024– TPS (sporting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen (born 8 August 1986) is a Finnish sporting director of Ykkösliiga club TPS, and a former professional international footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. Hämäläinen was born in Turku, Finland, where he started his senior career in TPS before moving to Djurgården. Hämäläinen made his international debut for Finland in November 2008 and has since had over 60 caps, including appearing in Finland´s UEFA Euro 2020 campaign in which Finland national team secured its first place in European Football Championship tournament´s group stage. He returned to his former club TPS in 2021, and ended his professional career with the club in the end of the 2023 season.[1]

Club career

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TPS Turku

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Born in Turku, Hämäläinen started his career in his hometown club TPS. In June 2008, Portuguese Primeira Liga club C.D. Nacional was keen to sign him, but he was said to be too expensive.[2] He visited Italian clubs Roma, Lazio, Udinese and Siena. NEC also showed interest. After the 2008 season, he was near a move to an unnamed Italian club but he chose to stay in Turku to secure play time in the first team.

Djurgårdens IF

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Hämäläinen with Djurgården in 2011

In December 2009, it was announced that Swedish club Djurgården had acquired him for a transfer fee of around €300.000.[3] "Kasper" as his shirt says became a star in the Djurgården-shirt and started all the 30 league games in Allsvenskan during both the 2010 and 2011 season. During his two first season he played as a central midfielder besides his fellow country man Daniel Sjölund. In the 2012 pre-season Djurgården manager Magnus Pehrsson tried Hämäläinen in a more offensive role as a trequartista. Hämäläinen did it so well that the move became permanent.

Lech Poznań

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However, in January 2013, it was announced that Hämäläinen had signed a three-year contract with Polish top-flight side Lech Poznań. The transfer fee was never made public, but it was believed to be around €410.000 [4] On 24 February, he scored on his debut in a 4–0 away win over Ruch Chorzów. Hämäläinen gained 14 caps during the spring season of 2013 out of which he was in the starting eleven 12 times. In those 14 matches he scored three goals. Lech Poznań won silver medals and made it to UEFA Europa League qualifications for the next season.

Legia Warsaw

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On 11 January 2016, he joined Lech's archrivals Legia Warsaw on a free transfer, signing a 3+1⁄2-year deal.[5]

Jablonec

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On 6 September 2019, Hämäläinen joined Czech First League club FK Jablonec, signing a two-year deal.[6]

Return to TPS

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On 7 May 2021, it was announced that Hämäläinen would return to TPS with a 2.5-year contract.[7] Hämäläinen announced that he will retire from professional football after the 2023 season.[8]

International career

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Hämäläinen was part of the Finnish U17 team that represented in the 2003 U17 World Cup held in Finland. He was a regular member of the Finland U21 team that qualified to the 2009 U21 European Championship held in Sweden and played in all Finland's three matches.

He made his national team debut on 19 November 2008 against Switzerland when Stuart Baxter chose him to the starting line up for a match played in St. Gallen.[9][10] During UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying he established himself as a regular in the national team.[11] Hämäläinen scored his first international goal on 17 November 2010 against San Marino as he scored a brace in the 8–0 home victory.

Later career

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On 29 August 2024, it was announced that Hämäläinen would start as a sporting director of his former club Turun Palloseura.[12]

Personal life

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Hämäläinen's father Heikki Hämäläinen is a former track and field athlete.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 15 September 2021[13][14]
Club Season League League Cup Europe Other1 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TPS 2003 Veikkausliiga 2 0 0 0 – – 2 0
2004 Veikkausliiga 6 1 0 0 – – 6 1
2005 Veikkausliiga 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
2006 Veikkausliiga 18 1 0 0 – – 18 1
2007 Veikkausliiga 24 4 0 0 – – 24 4
2008 Veikkausliiga 22 3 0 0 – – 22 3
2009 Veikkausliiga 25 0 0 0 – – 25 0
Total 97 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 97 9
Djurgården 2010 Allsvenskan 30 2 1 0 – – 31 2
2011 Allsvenskan 30 2 2 0 – – 32 2
2012 Allsvenskan 30 4 1 2 – – 31 6
Total 90 8 4 2 – – 94 10
Lech Poznań 2012–13 Ekstraklasa 13 3 – – – 13 3
2013–14 Ekstraklasa 36 9 2 0 4[a] 0 – 42 9
2014–15 Ekstraklasa 36 13 4 1 4[a] 1 – 44 15
2015–16 Ekstraklasa 15 8 3 0 12[b] 1 1[c] 0 31 9
Total 100 33 9 1 20 2 1 0 130 36
Legia Warsaw 2015–16 Ekstraklasa 11 3 2 0 – – 13 3
2016–17 Ekstraklasa 31 7 1 1 4[d] 0 0 0 36 8
2017–18 Ekstraklasa 31 8 3 0 6[e] 2 1[c] 0 41 10
2018–19 Ekstraklasa 17 2 2 0 4[d] 0 1 0 24 2
Total 90 20 8 1 14 2 2 0 114 23
Jablonec 2019–20 Czech First League 15 2 2 0 — — 17 2
Jablonec B 2019–20 Bohemian Football League 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2020–21 Bohemian Football League 7 1 0 0 — — 7 1
Total 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1
TPS 2021 Ykkönen 17 5 0 0 — — 17 5
2022 Ykkönen 28 5 2 1 — 6 1 36 7
2023 Ykkönen 27 9 0 0 — 3 0 30 9
Total 72 19 2 1 0 0 9 1 93 21
Career total 472 102 25 5 34 4 12 1 442 112
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Includes four appearances in UEFA Champions League, and eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ a b Appearance in Polish Super Cup
  4. ^ a b Includes three appearances in UEFA Champions League, and one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Includes four appearances in UEFA Champions League, and two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of 26 March 2019[15]
National team Year Competitive Friendly Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Finland 2008 0 0 1 0 1 0
2009 2 0 1 0 2 0
2010 3 2 4 0 7 2
2011 6 2 3 1 9 3
2012 3 1 6 0 9 1
2013 6 1 4 1 10 2
2014 3 0 1 0 4 0
2015 6 0 0 0 6 0
2016 2 0 4 1 6 1
2017 5 0 1 0 6 0
2018 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 38 6 25 3 63 9

International goals

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As of match played 1 June 2016. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Hämäläinen goal.[16]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 November 2010 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 11  San Marino 2–0 8–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
2 5–0
3 10 August 2011 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 15  Latvia 1–0 2–0 Friendly
4 2 September 2011 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 16  Moldova 1–0 4–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
5 2–0
6 12 October 2012 28  Georgia 1–1 1–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 7 June 2013 33  Belarus 1–0 1–0
8 14 August 2013 Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland 35  Slovenia 2–0 2–0 Friendly
9 1 June 2016 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium 52  Belgium 1–0 1–1

Honours

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Lech Poznań

Legia Warsaw

References

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  1. ^ KASPER HÄMÄLÄINEN ELÄÄ UUTTA ARKEA – ”AIKA NOPEASTI URA OLI SIINÄ SITTEN”, fc.tps.fi, 21 November 2023
  2. ^ Turun Sanomat
  3. ^ "Kasper Hämäläinen till DIF" (in Swedish). dif.se. 30 December 2009. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  4. ^ Kasper Hämäläinen pelaa jatkossa Puolan hulluimpien fanien edessä (Kasper Hämäläinen will be playing in front of the craziest fans of Poland) Archived 4 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine; 29 January 2013; Iltasanomat.fi (in Finnish)
  5. ^ "Kasper Hamalainen piłkarzem Legii! – Legia Warszawa". legia.com.
  6. ^ "Kasper Hämäläisen sai uuden seuran Tšekistä ja mielii takaisin Suomen maajoukkueeseen" [Kasper Hämäläinen got a new club from the Czech Republic and wants to return to the Finnish national team] (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Kasper Hämäläinen palaa TPS-paitaan 2,5-vuotisella sopimuksella" [Kasper Hämäläinen returns to TPS shirt with a 2.5-year contract] (in Finnish). TPS. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  8. ^ Kasper Hämäläinen lopettaa uransa – ”Ikimuistoinen ja tapahtumarikas matka”, Veikkausliiga, 8 September 2023
  9. ^ Finland vs Switzerland Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  10. ^ "Sveitsi kaatoi Suomen St. Gallenissa" (in Finnish). YLE Urheilu. 19 November 2008. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Kasper Hämäläisellä takana läpimurtokausi" [Kasper Hämäläinen has a breakthrough season behind him] (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  12. ^ KASPER HÄMÄLÄINEN ON TPS:N UUSI URHEILUTOIMENJOHTAJA, fc.tps.fi, 29 August 2024
  13. ^ "Kasper Hämäläinen". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Kasper Hämäläinen". 90minut.pl. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Kasper Hämäläinen" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  16. ^ Kasper Hämäläinen at Soccerway
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