Anne Maarit Mäkinen (born 1 February 1976) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

former

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, rugb ...

who last played for

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

club

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. She was a central midfielder. Following her debut in June 1991, Mäkinen represented Finland a record 118 times, with 16 goals as of her retirement in 2009. She was the first Finnish player to play in the WUSA, and played collegiately at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

. Mäkinen played for

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Unite ...

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Histo ...

and

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women’s soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played ...

. While with Notre Dame, she was the Rookie of the Year in 1997 and the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

in 2000, and was selected to the All Stars of university soccer four years in a row. In 2005, Mäkinen vice-captained

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 Bot ...

to the bronze medals in the European Championship finals, which stands as her nations's best achievement in this sport. While with

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football clubs in ...

in Sweden, she twice won the Swedish top league, Damallsvenskan, in 2005 and 2006. Mäkinen's playing style was very powerful. She was skillful with the ball, and dictated the run of her team's play from central midfield with her effective tackling and telling passes. Mäkinen's soccer jersey number was retired in 2011 at the IMG Soccer Academy where she trained in her early years, often competing against male players for a challenge.

References

External links

UEFA profile

Profile
at

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

1976 births Living people Finnish women's footballers Finland women's international footballers Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer players Washington Freedom players Philadelphia Charge players Finnish expatriate footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Helsinki Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden FIFA Century Club USL W-League (1995–2015) players Umeå IK players AIK Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players Bälinge IF players New Jersey Wildcats players Women's association football midfielders Hermann Trophy women's winners {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub