Hannu Tihinen

Hannu Tihinen (born 1 July 1976) is a retired Finnish footballer who played as a defender.

Hannu Tihinen
Personal information
Full name Hannu Tihinen
Date of birth (1976-07-01) 1 July 1976
Place of birth Keminmaa, Finland
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1991–1992 KePS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 KePS 77 (12)
1997–2000 HJK Helsinki 65 (8)
2000–2002 Viking 71 (8)
2001 → West Ham United (loan) 8 (0)
2002–2006 Anderlecht 101 (14)
2006–2010 Zürich 116 (9)
Total 438 (51)
National team
1999–2010 Finland 76 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He has played for clubs in Finland, Norway, England, Belgium and Switzerland. Tihinen achieved five championships in three countries in a career that ended in 2010, a cup title in two countries and captained almost all of his club teams.

Club career

Born in Keminmaa, Lapland, Tihinen started his career with KePS in the lower divisions before moving to Veikkausliiga club HJK for the 1997 season. He won both the Finnish championship and Finnish Cup once with HJK, and also earned UEFA Champions League experience with the club in the 1998–99 season.

Tihinen then joined Norwegian club Viking in 2000. He spent two and a half seasons with Viking, while also having a brief loan spell at West Ham United in the English Premiership. Whilst at West Ham he played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2000–01 FA Cup.[1]

In 2002 Tihinen joined Belgian club Anderlecht. He played in Belgium for four years, winning two Belgian championships.

After Tihinen's contract with Anderlecht expired in the summer of 2006, he was snapped up by FC Zürich on a three-year deal. He was captain of the 2006–07 Swiss Championship and the 2008–09 Swiss Championship winning team. On 30 September 2009, Tihinen scored the winning goal for Zürich after 10 minutes against A.C. Milan in the Group C game of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.

On 7 May 2010, Tihinen announced that he would retire after the 2009–10 season, mainly because of his head injuries. His last game was an away draw (3–3) against Neuchâtel Xamax on 16 May 2010.[2][3]

International career

Tihinen made his debut for the Finnish national team on 5 June 1999 against Turkey. He formed Finland's regular central defensive pairing with Sami Hyypiä for most of the 2000s.

Helmet

Tihinen injured his head many times during his career. Because of that he wore a helmet during his last seasons. He was also very good with his head, which he used to score most of his goals.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Tihinen joined FC Zürich as an assistant director.[2][3]

On 13 April 2012, he announced his candidacy to run for the new president of the Football Association of Finland, as the post was left open after Sauli Niinistö was elected as President of Finland.[4]

After his career, Tihinen has studied international sports management and since 2014, he has been the technical director of the Finnish Football Association.

Career statistics

International goals

Finland’s score first.[5]

#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 June 1999 Helsinki Turkey2–4LossUEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2.15 August 2001 Helsinki Belgium4–1WinFriendly
3.12 October 2002 Helsinki Azerbaijan3–0WinUEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
4.7 September 2005 Tampere Macedonia5–1Win2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.5 September 2009 Lankaran Azerbaijan2–1Win2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

HJK

Viking

  • Norwegian Cup: 2001

Anderlecht

  • Belgian First Division: 2003–04, 2005–06

Zürich

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References
  1. "Di Canio sinks Man Utd". BBC. 28 January 2001. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  2. "Hannu Tihinen lopettaa peliuransa - siirtyy johtoportaaseen" (in Finnish). Iltasanomat. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  3. "Hannu Tihinen beendet seine Spielerkarriere" (in German). FC Zürich. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  4. Tihinen runs for FA presidency (in Finnish)
  5. Hannu Tihinen international matches at Finnish FA Archived 25 August 2005 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
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