Kristian Kojola (born 12 September 1986) is a retired Finnish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Kojola started his senior career in

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

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 ...

where he played for the local team FC Espoo before moving to

FC Hämeenlinna FC Hämeenlinna is a Finnish football club, based in Hämeenlinna. It currently plays in the Finnish third Division (''Kakkonen''). The club's manager is Tomi Uusitorppa, and it plays its home matches at Kauriala. The team was formed in 1991. ...

. He also represented the

Finnish national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body ...

. He retired after the 2018 season.

Club career

Early career

Kojola started his senior career in 2003 in FC Espoo. During season 2005 he made his Veikkausliiga debut in AC Allianssi. Between 2005 and 2007 he represented

. He made his Veikkausliiga break through in 2008 when he gained 16 caps in

FF Jaro FF Jaro is a Finnish football club, based in the bilingual town of Jakobstad. It currently plays in ''Ykkönen''. Home matches are played at the Jakobstads Centralplan. Current squad ''Updated 7 March, 2022.'' Managem ...

. He transferred to Tampere United for the season 2010. In the end of 2010 Tampere United was excluded from participating in Finnish football and Kojola moved to

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

IFK Mariehamn

He gained 61 caps and scored 3 goals for IFK Mariehamn between 2011 and 2012.

Hallescher FC

Kojola spent season 2013–2014 in German

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, sometimes still called by its former popular name Chemie Halle, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third highest level in the German footb ...

. He made 36 appearances and scored one goal.

Return to IFK Mariehamn

After his contract with Hallescher expired in 2014 he returned to IFK Mariehamn for the end of 2014 Veikkausliiga season. They won the

2015 Finnish Cup The 2015 Finnish Cup ''(Suomen Cup)'' is the 61st season of the Finnish Cup. 132 clubs entered the competition, including all sides on the top two levels of the Finnish football pyramid (Veikkausliiga and Ykkönen), 19 sides from Kakkonen and 91 fr ...

before claiming the

2016 Veikkausliiga The 2016 Veikkausliiga is the 86th season of top-tier football in Finland. The season started on 2 April 2016; the regular season ended on 23 October 2016, with a promotion/relegation playoff continuing until 29 October. SJK were the defending ch ...

title. In Kojola's final season at the team he also served as the team captain.

International career

Kojola played with the

Finland national under-17 football team The Finland national under-17 football team represents Finland in international football competitions in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, as well as any other under-17 international football tournaments. It is ...

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland between 13 and 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could particip ...

.2003 Finland FIFA World Cup
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Honours

Club

;Hallescher FC *

Saxony-Anhalt Cup The Saxony-Anhalt Cup (German: Landespokal Sachsen-Anhalt) is an annual football cup competition in Saxony-Anhalt. The Football Association of Saxony-Anhalt (German: Fußballverband Sachsen-Anhalts, short: FSA) is its governing body. All non-prof ...

: 2014 Runner-up ;IFK Mariehamn * Veikkausliiga:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* Finnish Cup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual

* Veikkausliiga Team of the Year:

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojola, Kristian 1986 births Living people Finnish men's footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Veikkausliiga players FF Jaro players Men's association football defenders Tampere United players IFK Mariehamn players Hallescher FC players 3. Liga players FC Espoo players Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Footballers from Espoo