Jussi Kujala (born 4 April 1983 in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

) is a Finnish 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, rugby ...

. Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, he has since dropped deeper down the field. He was the captain of the Finnish U21 national team in the 2006

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

qualifiers.

Club career

Tampere United

Kujala made his debut for United in 2000 and he gained 10 caps and one goal for the team.

Ajax

After Tampere United he spent four seasons playing in the junior and reserve teams of Ajax Amsterdam.

Return to Tampere United

He returned to

Tampere United Tampere United is a Finnish football club from the city of Tampere. The club plays in Kakkonen, the third highest level of football in Finland. The club had a team in Veikkausliiga, the premier football league in Finland, until the end of the ...

in 2004. As the club had financial difficulties in 2009 he was allowed to leave the team.

TPS

He transferred to TPS Turku during the summer 2009 transfer window.

De Graafschap

In January 2010 he left TPS Turku and signed with Dutch side

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

on a free transfer.

Return to Ilves

In September 2012, Kujala signed a contract with his old junior team

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city ...

. Ilves was promoted to

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also play ...

at the end of the season.

KuPS

On 27 November

Kuopion Palloseura Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...

announced that they had signed Kujala for two years.

Ilves and retirement

In January 2015 he signed a one-year contract with

FC Ilves Tampereen Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish football club, based in Tampere. They currently play in the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of professional football in Finland. They were formed in 1975 as a merger between Ilves-Kissat Tam ...

. He announced his retirement in December 2015.

International career

Kujala made his international debut in Finland's national team in 2004 against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Honours

De Graafschap *

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

: 2009–10

Career statistics

International

Club

Tampere United *

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

(2):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in 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 ...

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup was a knock-out association football, football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The league cup was abolished after the 2016 tournament and replaced with the Finnish C ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

De Graafschap *

: 2009–10 Ilves *

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen (Finnish for 'Number Two' ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

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Player stats
- Voetbal International {{DEFAULTSORT:Kujala, Jussi 1983 births Living people Footballers from Tampere Association football defenders Association football midfielders Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Tampere United players AFC Ajax players Turun Palloseura footballers De Graafschap players Veikkausliiga players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Finnish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands