Anthony Olusanya (born 1 February 2000) is a Finnish 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Veikkausliiga club Haka, on loan from HJK.

Club career

On 30 September 2021, in a UEFA Europa Conference League group phase game against Alashkert, he came on as a late substitute for

Roope Riski Roope Riski (born 16 August 1991) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for HJK Helsinki. He is known as a clinical, well-positioned forward who can get into the right place at the right time. In the middle of the 2010 se ...

and scored his first goal in a European club competition. HJK eventually won 4–2. On 12 August 2024, he was loaned out to

FC Haka FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is currently competing in Finland's premier division of football, Veikkausliiga. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships a ...

for the rest of the season.

International career

Born in Jakobstad, Finland, Olusanya is of Nigerian descent on his father's side but does not have Nigerian citizenship. His mother is of Finnish background. He made his debut for the Finland U-21 team on 3 June 2021 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Sweden U-21. He then scored his first international goal against Estonia U-21 on 3 September 2021 in an Under-21 European Championship qualifier. He made his debut for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 9 January 2023 in a

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

where he came on at the 77th minute to replace

Kai Meriluoto Kai Meriluoto (born 2 January 2003) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga side HJK. Early life Meriluoto was born in Siuntio, Finland, to a Japanese mother and Finnish father. When he was a one-year-old, he moved to ...

. Finland ultimately lost the game 0–2, with

Christoffer Nyman Christoffer Åke Sven "Totte" Nyman (born 5 October 1992) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for IFK Norrköping as a forward. Club career Youth career Nyman was born in Norrköping and grew up close to the IFK Norrköping home s ...

and

Joel Asoro Joel Joshghene Asoro (born 27 April 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Djurgårdens IF. Club career Early career Asoro started his career in his local club IFK Haninge in a southern Stockholm suburb. When he ...

being the goalscorers.

Career statistics

Anthony Olusanya
Finnish FA

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olusanya, Anthony 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Jakobstad Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finnish people of Nigerian descent Men's association football forwards FF Jaro players FC Haka players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Kakkonen players