Jussi Kujala (born 4 April 1983 in Tampere) is a Finnish former footballer. Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, he has since dropped deeper down the field. He was the captain of the Finnish U21 national team in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers.
 Kujala with De Graafschap in 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 April 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tampere, Finland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder, Defender | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1999 | Ilves | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Tampere United | 10 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Ajax | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2009 | Tampere United | 119 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | TPS | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | De Graafschap | 40 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Ilves | 6 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | KuPS | 29 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Ilves | 29 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finland U21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2009 | Finland | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
editTampere United
editKujala made his debut for United in 2000; he made ten appearances and scored one goal for the team.
Ajax
editAfter Tampere United, he spent four seasons playing in the junior and reserve teams of Ajax.
Return to Tampere United
editHe returned to Tampere United in 2004. As the club had financial difficulties, in 2009 he was allowed to leave the team.
TPS
editHe transferred to Turku during the summer 2009 transfer window.
De Graafschap
editIn January 2010, he left Turku, and signed with Dutch side De Graafschap on a free transfer.
Return to Ilves
editIn September 2012, Kujala signed a contract with his old junior team Ilves.[1] Ilves was promoted to Ykkönen at the end of the season.
KuPS
editOn 27 November, KuPS announced that they had signed Kujala for two years.[2]
Ilves and retirement
editIn January 2015, he signed a one-year contract with Ilves.[3]
He announced his retirement in December 2015.[4]
International career
editKujala made his international debut in Finland's national team in 2004 against Oman.
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 1 September 2024.
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | League cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tampere United | 1999 | Ykkönen | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2000 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 1 | – | – | – | 7 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Ajax | 2001–02 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tampere United | 2004 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2005 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 5 | – | – | 6[b] | 0 | 29 | 5 | |||
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 2[b] | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 8[c] | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 4[d] | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 29 | 2 | ||
| Total | 119 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 152 | 9 | ||
| TPS | 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | 6 | 1 | |||
| De Graafschap | 2009–10 | Eerste Divisie | 10 | 0 | – | – | – | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | Eredivisie | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 15 | 2 | |||
| Total | 40 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 2 | ||
| Ilves | 2012 | Kakkonen | 6 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 | 2 | |||
| KuPS | 2013 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | – | 33 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Ilves | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 37 | 1 | |
| Career total | 240 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 293 | 17 | ||
- ^ Includes Suomen Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
edit- As of 26 March 2013[5]
| Finland national team | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 2 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 |
Honours
editDe Graafschap
Tampere United
De Graafschap
Ilves
References
edit- ^ "Paluumuuttaja Jussi Kujala vahvistaa Ilvestä nousukarsinnoissa". YLE uutiset (in Finnish). 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ "Jussi Kujala liittyi KuPS:n riveihin". KuPS.fi (in Finnish). 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ^ "Jussi Kujala palaa kasvattajaseuraansa". ilvesedustus.com (in Finnish). FC Ilves. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "Jalkapallomaajoukkueessa esiintynyt Jussi Kujala, 32, päätti lopettaa uransa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Yle Uutiset. 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "Jussi Kujala".
- ^ Steenbergen, Mark van (4 April 2020). "Het kampioenschap van 2010 met De Graafschap bezorgt Powel nog steeds kippenvel". De Gelderlander (in Dutch).
External links
edit- Jussi Kujala at De Graafschap at the Wayback Machine (archived 1 January 2012) (in Dutch)
- Jussi Kujala – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Jussi Kujala at National-Football-Teams.com
- Jussi Kujala at Soccerway
- Player stats - Voetbal International