Toni Tapio Kuivasto (born 31 December 1975) is a retired Finnish

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

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 ...

side

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

Club career

Kuivasto started his career at home-town club

FC Ilves Tampereen Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx"; ), commonly known as Ilves, is a Finnish professional football club based in Tampere. They currently play in the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of professional football in Finland. History The histo ...

, making his

debut in 1992. He also played for MyPa and

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 Finland, before moving abroad to play for

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, ...

of the Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

in 2001. After a few years in Norway he wanted new challenges, and he was bought by Djurgården in the summer of 2003. Kuivasto has helped Djurgården to two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups. Kuivasto returned to Finland for the 2010 season after spending 10 years abroad. He signed a one-year contract with

FC Haka FC Haka, originally ''Valkeakosken Haka'', commonly known as Haka, is a Finnish professional football club based in the industrial town of Valkeakoski. The club was founded in 1934 and competes in Finland's premier division, the Veikkausliiga. ...

. He managed to score a vital goal for his team in his second game for Haka, in a league cup match against VPS. After his contract with Haka expired after the 2010 season, he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. On 4 November 2011 it was announced that the 35-year-old Kuivasto would retire due his knee problems. He is currently studying to become a youth coach.

International career

Kuivasto made his debut for the Finland national team on 21 February 1997 against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. He made his last national appearance on 1 April 2009 as he played 23 minutes in a friendly 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 ...

. He made in total of 75 national caps and scored one goal.

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''As of match played 18 March 2005. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kuivasto goal.''

Honours

HJK *

Suomen Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in association football, 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 Europ ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Viking FK *

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

; 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 ...

(2):http://www.difarkivet.se/dif_sm_guld_seniorer.pdf

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 ...

(2):

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 ...

References

External links

*
Official FC Haka profile
*
Profile at FA of Finland's official website
* National Football Teams {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuivasto, Toni 1975 births Living people Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football central defenders Veikkausliiga players Eliteserien players Myllykosken Pallo −47 players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Viking FK players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Allsvenskan players Ilves (football) players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Footballers from Tampere