Essi Katriina Sainio (born 9 September 1986) 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 last played for HJK in Finland as a winger. She played for

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

, before having a few years break due personal reasons. She previously played for

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

, winning the German Bundesliga title in 2009, and for AIK of the Swedish

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 ...

. Sainio began her senior career with Naisten Liiga clubs

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finland, Finnish Association football, football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club will play in Kakkonen in the 2024 season, after Esport Honka filed for ...

and HJK in her home country. Since making her debut in 2006, Sainio has won 45

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 ...

and scored three goals for the

Finland women's national football team The Finland women's national football team (, ), also known as nickname The Boreal Owls (), represents Finland in international Women's association football, women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland (SPL/FB ...

. A winger who can also play as a full-back, she was part of the Finnish team which hosted

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

and reached the quarter-finals.

Club career

Her career began at the age of nine years at FC Kasiysi Espoo. She then moved to FC Espoo and FC Honka Espoo and arrived at

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

in 2005. Her transfer from the German Frauen-Bundesliga team

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

to the Swedish

club AIK was announced in May 2009. At AIK Sainio made seven appearances and scored one goal before suffering an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in 2010. She was allowed to move back to Germany with

in July 2010. EssiSainio2009

International career

Sainio made her debut in the Finnish national team on 5 June 2006 against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. A few weeks later she signed a three-year deal with the then German champion 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. During the

2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship The 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship was held in Russia from 17 August to 3 September 2006. It was the officially recognized world championship for women's under-20 national association football teams. Matches were held in four Moscow st ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, she suffered a fracture of her middle foot. She then suffered the same fracture in March 2007 at the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

and again in July 2007 at the Nordic Cup. National

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Michael Käld selected Sainio in the squad for

, which Finland were hosting. She started the 3–2 quarter-final defeat by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but was substituted for Annica Sjölund early in the second half.

References

External links

* *
Player German domestic football stats
at

DFB DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

Official homepage of 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam

1986 births Living people Finnish women's footballers Finnish expatriate women's footballers Finland women's international footballers Frauen-Bundesliga players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players SC Freiburg (women) players Footballers from Helsinki Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Germany AIK Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players FC Honka (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players Women's association football midfielders UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Finnish association football commentators 21st-century Finnish sportswomen Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden FC Espoo players FC Kasiysi players Malmin Palloseura players {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub