Quick Facts
Biography
Juhani Ojala (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjuhɑni ˈojɑlɑ]; (born 19 June 1989), is a Finnish professional football Centre back who represents SJK and Finland national team. Ojala was born in Vantaa, Finland where he played for the local youth team before moving to HJK´s organisation.
Club career
HJK Helsinki
During the 2009 season, Ojala represented mostly Klubi-04, HJK's reserve squad. In the beginning of the 2010 season, however, he was selected to HJK's first eleven, due to various injuries in the squad. His performances were outstanding, and he quickly established himself as one of the key players in HJK's victorious 2010 campaign, playing in all games. Ojala became one of the best and most talented players in the Veikkausliiga, and his performances provoked widespread international interest. At the end of the 2010 Veikkausliiga season, he was officially selected as the defender of the year.
Young Boys
On 9 April 2011 Ojala signed a contract extension with HJK, the new contract running until 2014. But in July, HJK announced that Ojala would transfer to Swiss team BSC Young Boys on 13 August.
He gained notoriety in England during Young Boys' 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage match against Liverpool at the Stade de Suisse. In an incredible match which ended 5–3 to the Reds, Ojala opened the scoring by embarrassingly putting the ball past Marco Wölfli, his own goalkeeper. He later made amends by scoring a header to bring Young Boys level at 2–2 just after half time.
Terek Grozny
After a year and a half in Switzerland on 12 February 2013 it was announced that Ojala would transfer to Russian Premier League team Terek Grozny.
HJK Helsinki Loan
On 29 July 2015, Ojala rejoined HJK on loan for the remainder of the 2015 Veikkausliiga season. He had a trial with Coventry City F.C. at the end of the season, but was not signed.
SJK
On 1 September 2016, Ojala signed with SJK.
International career
In November 2010, after representing Finland on youth levels, Ojala was called up to the national team squad to face San Marino. He made his national team debut on 15 November 2011 in a friendly match against Denmark in Esbjerg when Mixu Paatelainen used him as a substitute. He gained his first FIFA World Cup qualification appearance 12 October 2012 in Helsinki Olympic Stadium in a match against Georgia. During autumn of 2012 he established himself as a regular in the national team.
Honours
Club
- HJK Helsinki
- Veikkausliiga (2): 2009, 2010
Country
Finland national football team
- 2012 Baltic Cup Runner-up
- 2014 Baltic Cup Bronze
Individual
- 2010: Veikkausliiga defender of the year
- "Pelipaikkojen parhaat 2010 nimetty" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 25 February 2015
| Season | Club | League | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||||
| 2009 | Klubi-04 | Ykkönen | 11 | 1 | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
| 2009 | HJK | Veikkausliiga | 4 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | 24 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 41 | 2 | |||
| 2011 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | Young Boys | Swiss Super League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | Terek Grozny | Russian Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | Finland | 56 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 79 | 4 | ||
| Switzerland | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 34 | 1 | |||
| Russia | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 103 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 139 | 5 | |||
International
- As of 25 February 2015
| Finland national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013 | 4 | 0 |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 14 | 0 |