Kasper Hämäläinen
Finnish footballer (born 1986)
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Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen (born 8 August 1986) is a Finnish football executive and former professional player who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently the sporting director of Ykkösliiga club TPS.
|
Hämäläinen with Lech Poznań in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen | ||
| Date of birth | 8 August 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Turku, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | TPS (sporting director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1997 | MaPS | ||
| 1998–2001 | Inter Turku | ||
| 2002–2003 | TPS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2010 | TPS | 97 | (12) |
| 2010–2013 | Djurgården | 90 | (8) |
| 2013–2015 | Lech Poznań | 101 | (33) |
| 2016–2019 | Legia Warsaw | 90 | (21) |
| 2019–2020 | Jablonec | 15 | (2) |
| 2019–2020 | Jablonec B | 8 | (1) |
| 2021–2023 | TPS | 72 | (19) |
| International career | |||
| 2002 | Finland U16 | 17 | (0) |
| 2003 | Finland U17 | 10 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | Finland U21 | 21 | (1) |
| 2008–2019 | Finland | 63 | (9) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2024– | TPS (sporting director) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Hämäläinen was born in Turku, Finland, where he started his senior career in TPS before moving to Djurgården. Hämäläinen earned 63 caps for the Finland national team, having made his debut in November 2008. He returned to his former club TPS in 2021, and ended his professional career with the club at the end of the 2023 season.[1]
Club career
TPS Turku
Born in Turku, Hämäläinen started his career in his hometown club TPS. In June 2008, Portuguese Primeira Liga club C.D. Nacional was keen to sign him, but he was said to be too expensive.[2] He visited Italian clubs Roma, Lazio, Udinese and Siena. NEC also showed interest. After the 2008 season, he was near a move to an unnamed Italian club but he chose to stay in Turku to secure play time in the first team.
Djurgårdens IF
In December 2009, it was announced that Swedish club Djurgården had acquired him for a transfer fee of around €300,000.[3] "Kasper" as his shirt says became a star in the Djurgården-shirt and started all the 30 league games in Allsvenskan during both the 2010 and 2011 season. During his two first season he played as a central midfielder besides his fellow country man Daniel Sjölund. In the 2012 pre-season Djurgården manager Magnus Pehrsson tried Hämäläinen in a more offensive role as a trequartista. Hämäläinen did it so well that the move became permanent.
Lech Poznań
However, in January 2013, it was announced that Hämäläinen had signed a three-year contract with Polish top-flight side Lech Poznań. The transfer fee was never made public, but it was believed to be around €410.000.[4] On 24 February, he scored on his debut in a 4–0 away win over Ruch Chorzów. Hämäläinen gained 14 caps during the spring season of 2013 out of which he was in the starting eleven 12 times. In those 14 matches, he scored three goals.
In December 2015, Hämäläinen decided to not extend his contract with Lech, citing personal reasons and wishing to move elsewhere with his family.[5][6] He made a total of 131 appearances for Lech, scoring 36 goals and helping the club win the 2014–15 Ekstraklasa and 2015 Polish Super Cup titles.[7]
Legia Warsaw
On 11 January 2016, he joined Lech's archrivals Legia Warsaw on a free transfer, signing a 3+1⁄2-year deal.[8]
Jablonec
On 6 September 2019, Hämäläinen joined Czech First League club FK Jablonec, signing a two-year deal.[9]
Return to TPS
On 7 May 2021, it was announced that Hämäläinen would return to TPS with a 2.5-year contract.[10] Hämäläinen announced that he will retire from professional football after the 2023 season.[11]
International career
Hämäläinen was part of the Finnish U17 team that represented in the 2003 U17 World Cup held in Finland. He was a regular member of the Finland U21 team that qualified to the 2009 U21 European Championship held in Sweden and played in all Finland's three matches.
He made his national team debut on 19 November 2008 against Switzerland when Stuart Baxter chose him to the starting line up for a match played in St. Gallen.[12][13] During UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying he established himself as a regular in the national team.[14] Hämäläinen scored his first international goal on 17 November 2010 against San Marino as he scored a brace in the 8–0 home victory.
Later career
On 29 August 2024, it was announced that Hämäläinen would start as a sporting director of his former club Turun Palloseura.[15]
Personal life
Hämäläinen's father Heikki Hämäläinen is a former track and field athlete.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other1 | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| TPS | 2003 | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2005 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 1 | |||
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 4 | |||
| 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | – | 25 | 3 | ||
| 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 | |||
| Total | 97 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 9 | ||
| Djurgården | 2010 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 31 | 2 | |||
| 2011 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 32 | 2 | ||||
| 2012 | Allsvenskan | 30 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 31 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 90 | 8 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | 94 | 10 | |||||
| Lech Poznań | 2012–13 | Ekstraklasa | 14 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 3 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Ekstraklasa | 36 | 9 | 2 | 0 | – | 4[d] | 0 | – | 42 | 9 | |||
| 2014–15 | Ekstraklasa | 36 | 13 | 4 | 1 | – | 4[d] | 1 | – | 44 | 15 | |||
| 2015–16 | Ekstraklasa | 15 | 8 | 3 | 0 | – | 12[e] | 1 | 1[f] | 0 | 31 | 9 | ||
| Total | 101 | 33 | 9 | 1 | – | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 131 | 36 | |||
| Legia Warsaw | 2015–16 | Ekstraklasa | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 13 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | Ekstraklasa | 31 | 7 | 1 | 1 | – | 4[g] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 8 | ||
| 2017–18 | Ekstraklasa | 31 | 9 | 3 | 0 | – | 6[h] | 2 | 1[f] | 0 | 41 | 11 | ||
| 2018–19 | Ekstraklasa | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 4[g] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 24 | 2 | ||
| Total | 90 | 21 | 8 | 1 | – | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 114 | 24 | |||
| Jablonec | 2019–20 | Czech First League | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| Jablonec B | 2019–20 | Bohemian Football League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | Bohemian Football League | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | — | — | 7 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |||
| TPS | 2021 | Ykkönen | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | — | — | 17 | 5 | |||
| 2022 | Ykkönen | 28 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | – | — | 36 | 7 | |||
| 2023 | Ykkönen | 27 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | – | 30 | 9 | |||
| Total | 72 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 93 | 21 | |||
| Career total | 473 | 93 | 26 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 37 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 548 | 103 | ||
- Includes Svenska Cupen, Polish Cup, Czech Cup, Finnish Cup
- Includes Finnish League Cup and Ykköscup
- Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Includes four appearances in UEFA Champions League, and eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Polish Super Cup
- Includes three appearances in UEFA Champions League, and one appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Includes four appearances in UEFA Champions League, and two appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
| National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Finland | 2008 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 38 | 6 | 25 | 3 | 63 | 9 | |
- Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Hämäläinen goal.[19]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 November 2010 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | 11 |  San Marino | 2–0 | 8–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 2 | 5–0 | ||||||
| 3 | 10 August 2011 | Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia | 15 |  Latvia | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 2 September 2011 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland | 16 |  Moldova | 1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 5 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 6 | 12 October 2012 | 28 |  Georgia | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 7 | 7 June 2013 | 33 |  Belarus | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 8 | 14 August 2013 | Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland | 35 |  Slovenia | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 1 June 2016 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium | 52 |  Belgium | 1–0 | 1–1 |
Honours
Lech Poznań
Legia Warsaw
