Joel Pohjanpalo
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Joel Pohjanpalo | ||
Date of birth | 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 | 24 | (33) |
2011–2013 | HJK Helsinki | 50 | (16) |
2013– | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 | (4) |
2013–2014 | → VfR Aalen (loan) | 22 | (5) |
2014–2016 | → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) | 56 | (13) |
National team‡ | |||
2011 | Finland U17 | 3 | (0) |
2012 | Finland U19 | 3 | (0) |
2012–2013 | Finland U21 | 10 | (2) |
2012– | Finland | 22 | (4) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 September 2016 (UTC). |
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
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
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.[8] 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.
International goals
- As of 8 October 2015
- Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
# | Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 5 March 2014 | ETO Park, Győr, Hungary | Hungary | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
2. | 4 September 2015 | Karaiskaki Stadium, Athens, Greece | Greece | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
3. | 7 September 2015 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
4. | 8 October 2015 | Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania | Romania | 1–0 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
Honours
Club
- Klubi-04
- HJK Helsinki
Statistics
Club
- As of 21 October 2016
Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
Finland | League | Finnish Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
2011 | HJK Helsinki | Veikkausliiga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2012 | 28 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 19 | ||
2013 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 8 | ||
2013/14 | VfR Aalen | 2. Bundesliga | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 5 |
2014/15 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 29 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 11 | |
2015/16 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 | ||
2016/17 | Bayer Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
Career Total | 131 | 38 | 19 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 161 | 49 |
1Finnish Cup statistics include app & goals in Finnish League Cup.
International
- As of 10 September 2016[9]
Finland national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2012 | 1 | 0 |
2013 | 1 | 0 |
2014 | 9 | 1 |
2015 | 7 | 3 |
2016 | 3 | 0 |
Total | 21 | 4 |
References
- (Finnish) Profile at hjk.fi
- ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- ↑ Pohjanpalo awarded as "Player of the Year" (Finnish)
- ↑ "HJK vs. Mariehamn". Soccerway. 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
- ↑ Pohjanpalo signs until 2015 (Finnish)
- ↑ http://www.palloliitto.fi/uutiset/maajoukkueet/joel-pohjanpalo-siirtyy-saksaan
- ↑ http://www.iltasanomat.fi/jalkapallo/art-1288682468088.html
- ↑ Bayer04fussball (21 Mar 2016). "Bayer 04 Leverkusen sign Pohjanpalo" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Huuhkajat selkeään voittoon" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
- ↑ "Joel Pohjanpalo" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joel Pohjanpalo. |
- Fortuna Düsseldorf official profile (German)
- Joel Pohjanpalo – UEFA competition record
- Joel Pohjanpalo – FIFA competition record
- Joel Pohjanpalo at National-Football-Teams.com
- Joel Pohjanpalo career statistics at Soccerbase
- Joel Pohjanpalo profile at Fussballdaten
- Joel Pohjanpalo at Soccerway