Henrik Daniel "Daja" Sjölund (born 22 April 1983) is a Finnish football coach and a 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Sjölund is currently working as an assistant coach of

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 ...

club

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 is best remembered for his stints with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

and

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 won 37

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Finland national team.

Career

Daniel Sjölund was born in the municipality of

Finström Finström is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The municipality has a population of () of which speak Swedish and Finnish as their first language. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The populat ...

, based in

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

which is a Swedish-speaking autonomous region that belongs to

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, ...

. Sjölund started his career at

IF Finströms Kamraterna IF Finströms Kamraterna (''also known as'' IF Finströmskamraterna and abbreviated IFFK) is a sports and football club in Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receivin ...

, when he was a child. Afterwards he went to

and

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish association football, football club based in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality ...

, before being signed by

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

at the age of just 16, after impressive displays for Finland's youth teams. In 2000

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

manager

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, ...

agreed to pay £1 million for the talented

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

in a deal that also saw

Rigobert Song Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who is the manager of the Central African Republic national team. Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back, but could also oper ...

going the other way. After failing to get into the first team at Liverpool, Sjölund joined

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 ...

for the 2003 season, first on loan and later on a permanent deal. He has won two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups with Djurgården. The 2005 season finally saw Sjölund become a regular in the Djurgården team, and he scored seven goals in the league. A regular for the Under-21s since the age of 17, Sjölund made his senior international debut for the Finnish national team on 22 May 2003 against

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 ...

. Good performances in the 2005 season have seen him promoted to the senior team on a regular basis. Sjölund was also a part of the Finland squad at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

. In September 2012 Sjölund played his 200th league game for Djurgården wearing a number 200 shirt. But only a couple of months later the club announced that they would not be extending his contract. Sjölund signed with

Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, also known simply as Åtvidabergs FF, Åtvidaberg, Åtvid or (especially locally) ÅFF, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Åtvidaberg. The club is affiliated with Östergötlands ...

on 4 February 2013 and stayed with the club for two seasons. He signed a pre-contract with local rivals

during the 2014 season, and joined the squad for the 2015 season. Sjölund re-signed with

for the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. In mid October, it was announced that Sjölund had retired from football. Sjölund returned to playing after less than a year of retirement, this time with Finnish fourth-tier club

FC Åland FC Åland is a football club from Sund, Åland. The club was formed in 1992 after the merger of IFFK and Sunds IF (SIF). The team reached its present form in 2012, when Hammarlands IK and IF Fram merged their men's first teams with SIFFK. At ...

Coaching career

In November 2021 Sjölund announced that he had signed a three-year contract to manage

. In September 2023, he was appointed as the assistant coach of Veikkausliiga club

for the rest of the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

season. After the season, his contract was extended for two more years for same position.

Personal information

His sister Annica Sjölund is also a Finnish international who competed in Women's Euro 2009.

Career statistics

International goals

International

Honours

Djurgårdens IF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

IFK Norrköping *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *

Swedish Goal of the Year Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football ...

: 2005 * Årets Järnkamin:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* * * *
IFK Mariehamn
profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Sjolund, Daniel 1983 births Living people People from Finström Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards IF Brommapojkarna players West Ham United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players IFK Mariehamn players Expatriate men's footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate men's footballers Allsvenskan players Veikkausliiga players Footballers from Åland IF Finströms Kamraterna players