Andreas Raido Karuks Vaikla (born 19 February 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Scrosoppi FC Scrosoppi Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Milton, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario Premier. The club is named after St. Luigi Scrosoppi, who is the patron saint of soccer players. History The club was ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

. Born in Canada, he represented Estonia at international level.

Early life

Vaikla began playing football in Canada. In 2013, he received a call-up to the Estonia under-16 team, being eligible due to his Estonian parents. He was scouted by

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in a match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, which led to him later joining the English club's academy the same year.

Club career

In July 2015, Vaikla signed a year-and-a-half contract with Swedish club

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

. He was a part of the IFK Norrköping squad that won both the

2015 Allsvenskan The 2015 Allsvenskan season, was the 91st edition of top tier Allsvenskan Association football, football competition since its founding in 1924 under the authority of the Swedish Football Association in Sweden; the 2015 in Swedish football, 2015 ...

and the

2015 Svenska Supercupen 2015 Svenska Supercupen (Swedish Super Cup 2015), was the 9th and last edition Svenska Supercupen annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen competitions. The match was played on 8 November ...

, however only appearing as an unused substitute. Vaikla made his debut for the club on 20 February 2016, a day after his 19th birthday, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 victory over

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Östersund, Sweden, that plays in the Swedish second tier, S ...

in the

2015–16 Svenska Cupen The 2015–16 Svenska Cupen will be the 60th season of Svenska Cupen and the fourth season with the current format. The winners of the competition will earn a place in the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. A total of 96 ...

. On April 22, Vaikla made his debut in the Allsvenskan, replacing the injured

David Mitov Nilsson David Erik Johan Mitov Nilsson (; born 12 January 1991) is a Swedish- Macedonian professional footballer who plays for IFK Norrköping as a goalkeeper. Born in Sweden, he plays for the North Macedonia national team. International career After ...

in the 19th minute of a 1–2 loss to

Falkenbergs FF Falkenbergs Fotbollsförening, also known simply as Falkenbergs FF, Falkenberg or (especially locally) FFF, is a Swedish football club based in Falkenberg. Formed on 3 January 1928, the club plays in the second highest Swedish league, Superetta ...

. He made 13 league appearances in the 2016 season. In February 2017, Vaikla signed a three-year contract with Finnish champions

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''), winning their first title in 2016. The club is managed by Gary Williams, and it plays ...

. He made his debut in the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

on 8 April 2017, in a 5–2 home victory over JJK. In December 2017, Vaikla signed a two-year contract with Norwegian club

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county. The admin ...

. In August 2019, he returned to Swedish club

. In February 2020, he joined Estonian club

JK Narva Trans Jalgpalliklubi Narva Trans, commonly known as Narva Trans or simply Trans, is an Estonian professional Association football, football club based in Narva that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football league system, Eston ...

of the top division

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

, after declining some offers from teams in Scandiavian countries who were only offering backup roles. He dealt with various injuries over the course of the season, eventually having his contract terminated in October, due to continuing injuries. In May 2021, he signed with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

. He made his debut on May 29 against

North Texas SC North Texas Soccer Club is a professional soccer club that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. North Texas SC currently ...

in a 1–1 draw. In July, he earned USL League One Save of the Week honours for Week 15 for a save against

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

. He was named to the USL League One Team of the Week for Weeks 20 and 21. In March 2022, Vaikla went on loan with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

. He made his debut for Edmonton on April 10, in the season-opener against

Valour FC Valour FC is a Canadian professional soccer club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays their home matches at Princess Auto Stadium. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned throu ...

. For the 2023 season, he joined

. He was named a league Second Team All-Star at the end of the season.

International career

Born in Canada to Estonian parents, Vaikla has represented Estonia at under-16, under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels. On 14 March 2016, Vaikla was called up by manager

Magnus Pehrsson Karl Magnus Pehrsson (born 25 May 1976) is a Swedish Association football, football manager and former professional player who is the Director of Football at Spanish club Vélez CF. Club career Pehrsson started his career in IFK Lidingö. He p ...

to the

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

squad to face

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in friendly matches, but remained an unused substitute. He made his debut for the senior national team on 1 June 2016, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 friendly home win over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaikla, Andreas Raido Karuks 1997 births Living people Soccer players from Toronto Estonian men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Canadian people of Estonian descent Men's association football goalkeepers Allsvenskan players Veikkausliiga players Eliteserien players Meistriliiga players USL League One players Canadian Premier League players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players IFK Norrköping players IFK Mariehamn players Kristiansund BK players JK Narva Trans players Toronto FC II players FC Edmonton players Estonia men's youth international footballers Estonia men's under-21 international footballers Estonia men's international footballers Estonian expatriate men's footballers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Estonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Scrosoppi FC players League1 Ontario players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Estonian sportsmen