Anne Maarit Mäkinen (born 1 February 1976) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

football manager and former

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 ...

making 188 appearances for the Finland national team. She was a central midfielder.

Career

Mäkinen was the first Finnish player to play in the WUSA, and played collegiately at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. Mäkinen played for

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History I ...

and

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women's soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League (1995–2015), W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and C ...

. While with Notre Dame, she was the Rookie of the Year in 1997 and the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

in 2000, and was selected to the All Stars of university soccer four years in a row. In December 2004, Mäkinen joined Swedish

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a women's professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football cl ...

. With Umeå IK, she twice won the Swedish top league,

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

, in 2005 and 2006. Mäkinen then played for

Bälinge IF Bälinge IF is a sports club from Bälinge, a village 10 kilometres north-west of Uppsala, Sweden. Background Bälinge Idrottsförening was established on 15 March 1936 and is currently active in men's and ladies' football, cross-country skiing ...

and AIK. Following her debut in June 1991, Mäkinen represented Finland a record 118 times, with 16 goals as of her retirement in 2009. In 2005, Mäkinen vice-captained

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

to the bronze medals in the European Championship finals, which stands as her nations's best achievement in this sport. She was awarded the Golden Player award for best player of the tournament. Mäkinen's playing style was very powerful. She was skillful with the ball, and dictated the run of her team's play from central midfield with her effective tackling and telling passes. Mäkinen's soccer jersey number was retired in 2011 at the IMG Soccer Academy where she trained in her early years, often competing against male players for a challenge. In 2017, Mäkinen was appointed physio coach of Finland women's national team. Mäkinen was appointed sports director for her former club as active, AIK, after the 2019 season. Before the 2021 season, her role was changed to manager. In May 2022, she was replaced as manager for AIK by Jesper Björk after six straight losses, including a

Tvillingderbyt Tvillingderbyt (; ) is a football fixture in the capital Stockholm, Sweden, between cross-town rivals AIK Stockholm and Djurgårdens IF. Both clubs were founded in Stockholm in 1891, AIK was first with Djurgårdens IF following three weeks later ...

against

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

References

External links

UEFA profile

Profile
at

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

1976 births Living people Finnish women's footballers Finland women's international footballers Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer players Washington Freedom (soccer) players Philadelphia Charge players Finnish expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Helsinki Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden FIFA Women's Century Club USL W-League (1995–2015) players Umeå IK players AIK Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players Bälinge IF players New Jersey Wildcats players Women's association football midfielders Hermann Trophy women's winners Women's United Soccer Association players Finnish football managers AIK Fotboll (women) managers Damallsvenskan managers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Finnish sporting directors Finnish Football Hall of Fame inductees {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub