Eero Tapio Korte (born 20 September 1987) is a Finnish former 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 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 ...

. Early in his career, Korte was called ''"the next

Jari Litmanen Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an inter ...

"'' by Finnish football experts due to his phenomenal technique, but failed to live up to expectations. Although Korte made his Veikkausliiga debut already in 2004, only at the age of 16, he suffered from multiple injuries during the first years at Lahti. During the years 2003–2004 he was invited to various training camps of clubs like

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, Chelsea and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. The 2008 season is widely believed to be the year of his breakthrough in the Premier Division. During the next season he played in all FC Lahti's matches, as they placed third in Veikkausliiga. But soon after the 2010 season as FC Lahti were relegated from Veikkausliiga, Korte joined JJK on a two-year contract. After spending two years in JJK he returned to

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

for one season before joining in newly promoted

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

on a two-year contract.Korte joins Ilves

References

Guardian Football

External links

Korte's profile on Veikkausliiga's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korte, Eero Living people 1987 births Sportspeople from Orimattila Men's association football midfielders Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's youth international footballers FC Lahti players JJK Jyväskylä players Ilves (football) players Veikkausliiga players