Kasper Hämäläinen


Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen is a Finnish professional football attacking midfielder who plays for Czech First League side FK Jablonec and the Finland national team. Hämäläinen was born in Turku, Finland, where he started his senior career in TPS before moving to Djurgården. Hämäläinen made his international debut for Finland in November 2008 and has since had over 60 caps, including appearing in Finland´s UEFA Euro 2020 campaign in which Finland national team secured its first place in European Football Championship tournament´s group stage.

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. 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. "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 €250.000 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. Lech Poznań won silver medals and made it to UEFA Europa League qualifications for the next season.

Legia Warsaw

On 11 January 2016, he joined Lech's archrivals Legia Warsaw on a free transfer, signing a -year deal.

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. Hämäläinen scored his first international goal on 17 November 2010 against San Marino as he scored a brace in the 8–0 home victory.

Personal life

Hämäläinen's father Heikki Hämäläinen is a former track and field athlete.

Career statistics

Club

1 Including Polish SuperCup.

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
117 November 2010Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland112–08–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
217 November 2010Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland115–08–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
310 August 2011Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia151–02–0Friendly
42 September 2011Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland161–04–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
52 September 2011Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland162–04–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
612 October 2012Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland281–11–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
77 June 2013Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland331–01–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
814 August 2013Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland352–02–0Friendly
91 June 2016King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium521–01–1Friendly

Honours

Lech Poznań
Legia Warsaw