Essi Katriina Sainio (born 9 September 1986) is a 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 le ...

, who is currently plays for HJK in Finland. She played for

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In 1990 the German Foo ...

before having a few years break due personal reasons . She previously played for

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

in Germany and for

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 ...

of the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

. Sainio began her senior career with

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 Lii ...

clubs

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finnish football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (''Veikkausliiga''), having been promoted for the fir ...

and HJK in her home country. Since making her debut in 2006, Sainio won 45 caps and scored three goals for the Finland women's national football team. A winger who can also play as a full-back, she was part of the Finnish team which hosted UEFA Women's Euro 2009 and reached the quarter-finals.

Club career

Her career began at the age of nine years at FC Kasiysi Espoo. She then moved to FC Espoo and FC Honka Espoo and arrived at HJK Helsinki in 2005. Her transfer from the German Frauen-Bundesliga team

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

to the

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

was announced in May 2009. At AIK Sainio made seven appearances and scored one goal before suffering an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in 2010. She was allowed to move back to Germany with

in July 2010. EssiSainio2009

International career

Sainio made her debut in the Finnish national team on 5 June 2006 against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. A few weeks later she signed a three-year deal with the then German champion 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. During the

2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship The 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship was held in Russia from 17 August to 3 September 2006. It was the officially recognized world championship for women's under-20 national association football teams. Matches were held in four Moscow sta ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, she suffered a fracture of her middle foot. She then suffered the same fracture in March 2007 at the Algarve Cup and again in July 2007 at the Nordic Cup. 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 * Co ...

Michael Käld Mikael Johan Bernhard Käld (born 6 May 1954) is a Finnish football manager who most recently worked at Kokkola F10 in the Finnish women's premier division Kansallinen Liiga. Käld was the head coach of Finland women's national football team f ...

selected Sainio in the squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2009, which Finland were hosting. She started the 3–2 quarter-final defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but was substituted for

Annica Sjölund Annica Maria Sjölund (born 31 March 1985) is a Finnish football striker, who last played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Sweden's Damallsvenskan. She previously played for FC United Pietarsaari and Åland United in Finland's Naisten Liiga a ...

early in the second half.

References

External links

* *
Player German domestic football stats
at DFB *
Official homepage of 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam

1986 births Living people Finnish women's footballers Finnish expatriate women's footballers Finland women's international footballers 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players SC Freiburg (women) players Footballers from Helsinki Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Germany AIK Fotboll (women) players Damallsvenskan players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players FC Honka (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players Women's association football midfielders UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub