Roni Porokara
Roni Porokara (born 12 December 1983) is a Finnish former international footballer. He was the first Jewish player in the Finnish national team since 1949.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roni Porokara | ||
| Date of birth | 12 December 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FinnPa | |||
| AC Allianssi | |||
| FC Jokerit | |||
| Klubi-04 | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | FC Hämeenlinna | 49 | (6) |
| 2005–2007 | FC Honka | 76 | (24) |
| 2008–2010 | Örebro SK | 84 | (11) |
| 2010–2012 | Beerschot | 29 | (3) |
| 2012 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 3 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | FC Honka | 52 | (11) |
| 2014 | HJK Helsinki | 4 | (1) |
| 2015 | FC Honka | 13 | (2) |
| Total | 297 | (56) | |
| National team | |||
| 2005 | Finland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2013 | Finland | 24 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club career
FC Hämeenlinna
On 15 May 2003, at age 19, Roni Porokara made his league debut in a match between FC Hämeenlinna and KuPS. During his two-year spell with Hämeenlinna, he made 46 league appearances and scored 6 goals.
FC Honka
He joined FC Honka in 2005, and played there until the end of 2007, making 76 league appearances and scoring 24 goals.
Örebro SK
In 2008, Porokara moved to the Swedish Premier Division side Örebro SK staying there until the end of 2010, making 84 league appearances and scoring 11 goals.
At the end of the 2009 Allsvenskan season, after playing for a year in Örebro SK, Porokara entered into negotiations with Israeli clubs, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.[2] Porokara attracted interest from Maccabi Haifa due to his eligibility to receive Israeli citizenship under the law of return.[3]
He was set to transfer to Maccabi Haifa in January 2010, for $700,000,[4] but the deal fell through.
In August 2010, Porokara attracted interest from number of clubs in Europe. Wigan Athletic from the Premier League was the big name out of this clubs along with Cesena from Serie A, and few clubs from Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. After Örebro finished third in 2010, Porokara announced that he will not renew his contract with the Swedes.
Beerschot AC
On 3 December 2010 he signed with Beerschot,[5] where he stayed until the summer of 2012, before moving to Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel.
Back to FC Honka
Porokara returned to FC Honka in 2015 after the team was relegated to Kakkonen due to financial problems. After appearing five times and scoring once, Porokara was forced to retire from active football because of a hip problem.
International career
On 13 April 2005, Porokara made his only appearance for the Finnish under-21 side in a friendly match against their Estonian counterparts. His full national team debut came a year later on 25 May 2006 in a friendly against Sweden. Porokara was a late substitute and only got a minute on the pitch.
In 11/8/2010 Porokara scored the winning goal against Belgium in friendly game.
International goals
As of 12 December 2009
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2 February 2009 | Olympic Stadium, Tokyo |  | 1–3 | 1–5 | Friendly match | |
| 2. | 10 October 2009 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki | .svg.png){kind=small} | 1–0 | 2–1 | FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying | |
| 3. | 11 August 2010 | Veritas Stadion, Turku | .svg.png){kind=small} | 1-0 | 1-0 | Friendly | |
| 4. | 17 November 2010 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki |  | 7-0 | 8-0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying | |
| 5. | 9 February 2011 | Jules Ottenstadion, Ghent | | 1-1 | 1-1 | Friendly |
Honours
Club
FC Honka
- Ykkönen: 2005
Individual
- BV Cup Player of the Tournament: 2006
- Veikkausliiga All-Star Team: 2006
Statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Finland | League | Finnish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2003 | FC Hämeenlinna | Ykkönen | 25 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | 24 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2005 | FC Honka | 26 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2007 | 26 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | - | - | ||
| Sweden | League | Svenska Cupen | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2008 | Örebro SK | Allsvenskan | 29 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2009 | 29 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2010 | 26 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Belgium | League | Belgian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2010-2011 | Germinal Beerschot | Belgian Pro League | 12 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | Finland | 125 | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Sweden | 84 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Belgium | 12 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Career total | 209 | 41 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
References
- "Heja Finland!" (PDF). Judiska SportMagazinet (in Swedish). Svenska Makkabiförbundet. January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
- Van Wagenen, Jon (17 November 2009). "Bedoya Reaping Rewards For Hard Wor". Yanks-Abroad.com. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
- Tuchman, Yaniv (10 December 2009). אילייב: אנחנו יכולים להיות ברמה של חיפה והפועל [Iliev: We Can Be On The Level Of Haifa & Hapoel]. Ma'ariv (in Hebrew). NRG.co.il. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
- חיפה תשלם 600 אלף דולר על פורוקוארה [Haifa will pay for Porokara $700,000] (in Hebrew). walla.co.il. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- Porokara signs with Beerschot (in Finnish)
External links
- Profile on Finnish national team website (in Finnish)
- Profile on Örebro SK official website (in Swedish)
- Roni Porokara at National-Football-Teams.com