Minna Johanna Kauppinen (; born 4 October 1985) is a Finnish international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. At club level she plays in the

Naisten Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten L ...

for

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 ...

Club career

Meriluoto participated in the

2005–06 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2005–06 was the fifth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football club tournament. It was won by Frankfurt in an all-German final against defending champions Turbine Potsdam for their second title in the competition. Teams ...

with FC United. Ahead of the 2008 season, in November 2007, she moved to Sweden and joined

Umeå Södra FF Umeå Södra FF is a football club from Umeå, Sweden. The club was established in 1982 with the merging of Röbäcks IF and Tegs SK. The club qualified for the Damallsvenskan league on October 13, 2007, by defeating the Ornäs BK 4–0 in the seco ...

. When her club were relegated at the end of that campaign, Meriluoto remained in the Damallsvenskan in signing for

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

. In October 2011

Jitex BK Jitex BK, more commonly known as just Jitex, is a football club in Mölndal, Sweden, that competes in Elitettan, the second tier of Swedish women's football. The club was founded January 21, 1971 and previously played in the Elitettan, Sweden's s ...

announced that she was to play the following season with them. In December 2013 Meriluoto confirmed her departure from Jitex and signed for Damallsvenskan rivals

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a association football, football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's football leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan. Vittsjö GIK play their home games at Vittsjö IP in Vi ...

International career

Meriluoto was hosts Finland's first choice goalkeeper at the

2004 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2004 Final Tournament was held in Finland between 28 July – 8 August 2004. Players born after 1 January 1985 were eligible to participate in this competition. Spain won the cup after defeating Germany 2–1 in ...

. She had been voted Finland's most promising female player in 2002. She made her debut for the senior

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, ...

team on 5 February 2006; playing 90 minutes against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in Spain. Meriluoto also played in one of Finland's matches at

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 ...

, against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. In June 2013 Meriluoto was named in 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 ...

Andrée Jeglertz Andrée Alexander Jeglertz (born 14 February 1972) is a Swedish football coach and former professional player who is the manager of the Denmark women's national football team. Career Playing career A defender, Jeglertz played 25 games in the Al ...

's Finland squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

. At the tournament, she took over goalkeeping duties from Tinja-Riikka Korpela for the final group game; a 1–1 draw with

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Personal life

Meriluoto moved to Sweden with her footballer boyfriend Jesper Törnqvist, who signed for

Umeå FC Umeå FC is a Swedish professional football club located in Umeå, Sweden. The club, formed in 1987, is currently playing in the third tier of the Swedish league, Ettan. The club is affiliated to the Västerbottens Fotbollförbund. Season to se ...

References

External links

Minna Meriluoto
Hammarby DFF profile * * 1985 births Living people Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Finnish women's footballers Finland women's international footballers Footballers from Turku Jitex BK players Vittsjö GIK players Hammarby Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players FC United (Jakobstad) players Kansallinen Liiga players Finnish expatriate women's footballers Women's association football goalkeepers 21st-century Finnish sportswomen Umeå Södra FF players {{Finland-women-footy-bio-stub