Joel Pohjanpalo

Joel Pohjanpalo
Pohjanpalo playing for the Finland U21 side in 2015
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
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 17
Youth career
1999–2005 PK-35
2006–2010 HJK Helsinki
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Klubi-04 26 (33)
2011–2013 HJK Helsinki 50 (16)
2013– Bayer Leverkusen 18 (7)
2013–2014 → VfR Aalen (loan) 22 (5)
2014–2016 → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 55 (13)
National team‡
2011 Finland U17 3 (0)
2012 Finland U19 3 (0)
2012–2013 Finland U21 10 (2)
2012– Finland 30 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 March 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 March 2018

Joel Pohjanpalo (born 13 September 1994), is a Finnish professional football striker who plays for German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen and represents the Finland national team.[1] Pohjanpalo was born in Helsinki, Finland where he played for HJK before he was loaned to Bayer 04 Leverkusen at age 19 in 2013.

Pohjanpalo made his international debut for Finland in November 2012, at the age of 18.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

A product of his hometown club HJK Helsinki, Pohjanpalo emerged through the youth ranks, first appearing with the reserve team (Klubi-04) in 2011 at the age of 16. He made his Veikkausliiga debut on 26 October 2011, starting against RoPS. During his first season in the Finnish 3rd division with Klubi-04, he made 21 appearances and scored a record-breaking 33 league goals.[2] Following his excellent performances with the reserves, Pohjanpalo signed a new contract with HJK on 7 December 2011, keeping him in the Finnish capital until 2015.

Pohjanpalo started HJK Helsinki's first league match of the 2012 Veikkausliiga season on 15 April 2012, scoring a hat-trick within the space of three minutes (162 seconds) against IFK Mariehamn.[3] After a 3-day trial with Liverpool in August 2012, Pohjanpalo was offered a 3-year contract but rejected the deal due to a lack of guaranteed playing time for Liverpool F.C. Reserves.[4] He finished the 2012 season at HJK with 19 goals in 42 games in all competitions.

Bayer Leverkusen

Pohjanpalo for Fortuna Düsseldorf in July 2015

On 1 September 2013 he was loaned to German Bundesliga team Bayer Leverkusen, who then loaned him to 2. Bundesliga team VfR Aalen.[5] At Aalen Pohjanpalo started 13 matches and appeared in a further 9, scoring 5 goals.

In April 2014 Pohjanpalo renewed his contract with HJK Helsinki, extending it to 2018. At the same time HJK extended his loan contract with Bayer Leverkusen a further two years, which Pohjanpalo spent on loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf.[6] He was voted for the 2. Bundesliga Player of the month in October 2014, following his hat-trick against Darmstadt 98.

On 21 March 2016, Leverkusen announced that they had exercised their option to permanently sign Pohjanpalo.[7] On August 27, 2016 he finally made his debut for the club in their opening game of the 2016-17 Bundesliga against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He scored just a minute after being substituted on, but it was not enough to prevent Leverkusen from losing 2-1. Pohjanpalo came off the bench in Leverkusen's 2nd game of the season and scored a hat-trick, helping Leverkusen achieve a 3-1 win over Hamburger SV. After these two appearances Pohjanpalo had scored 4 goals in just 30 minutes during the first two matches of the season.

International career

Youth

Pohjanpalo made his debut for the Finland U21 side at the age of 17 on 5 June 2012 against Slovenia.[8]

Senior

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.[9] He was close to scoring 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 entering the field as a substitute and equalising the game.

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 May 2017[10][11]
Club Season League Domestic Cups [lower-alpha 1] Europe[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Klubi-04 2010 Ykkönen 10000010
2011 Kakkonen 253300002533
Total 263300002633
HJK Helsinki 2011 Veikkausliiga 10000010
2012 2811105324018
2013 2154020275
Total 5016145526923
Aalen 2013-14 2. Bundesliga 2250000225
Total 2250000225
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2014-15 2. Bundesliga 291110003011
2015-16 2622000282
Total 551330005813
Bayer Leverkusen 2016-17 Bundesliga 1160020136
Total 1160020136
Career total 161721757218579
  1. ↑ Finnish Cup statistics include app & goals in Finnish League Cup.
  2. ↑ Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup.

International goals

As of 9 October 2017
Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 March 2014ETO Park, Győr, Hungary Hungary1–12–1Friendly
2.4 September 2015Karaiskaki Stadium, Athens, Greece Greece1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
3.7 September 2015Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland Faroe Islands1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
4.8 October 2015Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania Romania1–01–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
5.11 June 2017Tampere Stadium, Tampere, Finland Ukraine1–11–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.9 October 2017Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland Turkey2–22–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification

International

As of 9 October 2017[12]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland
201210
201310
201491
201573
201650
201752
Total286

Honours and achievements

Club

Klubi-04
HJK Helsinki

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Pohjanpalo awarded as "Player of the Year" (in Finnish)
  3. ↑ "HJK vs. Mariehamn". Soccerway. 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  4. ↑ Pohjanpalo signs until 2015 (in Finnish)
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  6. ↑ http://www.iltasanomat.fi/jalkapallo/art-1288682468088.html
  7. ↑ @Bayer04fussball (21 Mar 2016). "Bayer 04 Leverkusen sign Pohjanpalo" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo alle 21-vuotiaiden maajoukkueeseen" (in Finnish). YLE Urheilu. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Huuhkajat selkeään voittoon" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  10. ↑ https://int.soccerway.com/players/joel-pohjanpalo/160201/
  11. ↑ http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/49378/Joel_Pohjanpalo.html
  12. ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Kakkonen" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.