Mika Ojala (; born 21 June 1988) is a Finnish football coach and a 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 plays 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 ...

. He began his senior club

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

playing for

VG-62 VG-62 is a sports club based in Naantali, Finland. It was founded in 1962 and the name is an abbreviation of Naantali's old Latin name, "''Vallis gratiae''". VG-62 is particularly well known for their exemplary youth operations, for which the club ...

, before signing with

Inter Turku Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku () and colloquially known as Inter, is a Finnish professional football club based in Turku that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded i ...

at age 18 in 2006. Ojala made his international debut for Finland in January 2010, at the age of 21.

Club career

VG-62

Ojala started his football career in Paimion Haka and later moved to Inter Turku's junior system. He made his debut on senior level at the age of 16 in Inter Turku's reserve team

Inter Turku

Ojala gained his first appearance in

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 ...

during season

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. On 17 November 2008, he joined the Dutch club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

for a one-week-trial together with

Wilhelm Ingves Wilhelm Ingves (born 10 January 1990) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Masthuggets BK. Career IFK Mariehamn Ingves scored his first league goal in his first ever league appearance on 4 May 2008 ...

from

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 visited

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

in 2006.

Häcken

On 9 November 2012, after his contract with Inter had expired, it was announced that Ojala had signed a three-year contract with Swedish topflight club

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

, joining with compatriot Kari Arkivuo.

Return to Inter Turku

He returned to Inter Turku in February 2014 when he signed a contract for season

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

VfR Aalen

In the beginning of July 2015 Ojala transferred to German

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

side

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

International career

Ojala was selected in the Finland national squad by Stuart Baxter in August 2008. He was also called up in the U21 squad that reached the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 comp ...

. Ojala made his national team debut on 18 January 2010 as he came from the bench to replace

Roni Porokara Roni Porokara (born 12 December 1983) is a Finnish entrepreneur and a former international footballer, who is currently working in a real estate business. Club career FC Hämeenlinna On 15 May 2003, at age 19, Roni Porokara made his league ...

in friendly match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

where Finland had winter training camp. Ojala gained his second appearance for the national team on 10 August 2011 at

Skonto Stadium Skonto Stadium () is a football stadium in Riga, Latvia. The stadium was built in 2000 and currently has 8,087 seats in total (open for spectators & VIP guests on matchdays). It is the 2nd-largest stadium in Latvia, behind Daugava Stadium, also ...

in a friendly match against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

when he and

Timo Furuholm Timo Furuholm (born 11 October 1987) is a Finnish politician and a former professional football forward. He is currently a member of the Parliament of Finland, for the Left Alliance. Furuholm was born in Pori, Finland where he started his sen ...

replaced

Teemu Pukki Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Veikkausliiga club HJK and the Finland national team. Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior level on 23 June ...

and

Mika Ääritalo Mika Ääritalo (born 25 July 1985) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He made six appearances for the Finland national team scoring once. Club career After beginning his senior career in 2002 with hometown c ...

as forwards.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Inter Turku *

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 ...

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup (in Finnish: ''Liigacup''), is a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The competition is notably the only football competition in Europe which is most ...

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual *

Player of the Month:

August 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 thro ...

, June 2011, July 2011, * Veikkausliiga Midfielder of the Year:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Veikkausliiga Top assist provider:

veikkausliiga.com

References

External links

*
VfR Aalen official profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ojala, Mika 1988 births Living people Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers People from Paimio Finnish football coaches FC Inter Turku players BK Häcken players VfR Aalen players Veikkausliiga players Allsvenskan players 3. Liga players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Men's association football wingers Footballers from Southwest Finland VG-62 players Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho non-playing staff