Matias Ojala (born 28.2.1995) 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 ...

footballer, currently playing for

FC Inter Turku Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku and colloquially known as Inter, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland, that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded in 1 ...

in the

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 ...

Early career

Born and raised in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Ojala started his footballing career with local club

AC Oulu AC Oulu (ACO) is a Finnish football club based in Oulu. Formed in 2002, the club have played two seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and seven seasons in the second highest league Ykkönen. The club are currently playing ...

, making his debut on Finnish top-flight on 12 August 2010, only at the age of 15. By doing this, he became the youngest player in history to make an appearance in Veikkausliiga. He was however unable to make more appearances during the season as AC Oulu finished 11th. Because of their financial situation, the club however dropped down a level as they were denied a league license by the Finnish FA This proved to be a good career point for Ojala, as he went on making 58 appearances and scoring 9 goals for Oulu during the next three seasons combined in the Finnish second division. During his final season with Oulu, he replaced the legendary

Mika Nurmela Mika Nurmela (born 26 December 1971) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the sporting director of Finnish Ykkönen club AC Oulu. His son Anselmi Nurmela is also a professional footballer. Internatio ...

as the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, only at the age of 18.

Career

On 27 August 2013, it was announced that Ojala had joined

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side HSV on loan until summer 2014, with an option to buy. He was promoted to train with the first team for the first time in early October. On 7 November 2019,

confirmed the signing of Ojala for the 2020 season on a deal until the end of 2021.MATIAS OJALA SIIRTYY FC INTERIIN
fcinter.fi, 7 November 2019

References

1995 births Living people Finnish footballers Finnish expatriate footballers Finland youth international footballers Sportspeople from Oulu Oulun Luistinseura players Hamburger SV II players AC Oulu players Kemi City F.C. players FC Ilves players FC Inter Turku players Veikkausliiga players Regionalliga players Association football midfielders Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub