Sakari Mattila (born 14 July 1989) is a 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 ...

defender who plays for

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. Mattila was born 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 ...

, but began his senior club

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

playing for

Klubi-04 Klubi 04 is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. It is the reserve team of Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi for whom a number of the players are also registered. History Klubi 04 was founded in 2004 when HJK bought FC Jokerit. Initially Klubi 04 ...

, before making his league debut for HJK at age 18 in 2008. Mattila was the captain of the Finnish under-19 national team and made his international senior level debut for Finland in March 2014, at the age of 24 and has since appeared in 2016 UEFA European Championship qualifications and 2018

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

Club career

HJK Helsinki

Before the season 2008, HJK was on a training camp in Marbella and Mattila was spotted by scouts of

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

and

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

. He was playing on schoolboy terms, but HJK managed to sign a three-year contract with him. In August 2008,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

called him up for a week-long trial after scouting him in Helsinki. Just a week after his visit to

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Football in Italy, Italian association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a ...

called him up for a week-long trial. Before leaving to

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, Mattila stated that he is ready for a move to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In October, Iltasanomat told that Udinese had made an offer, but HJK rejected the first bid. The asking price was said to be around 700.000 euros. After rumours about his move to Udinese, Mattila stated that he wants to make a career in Italy and was hoping for a move in the next transfer window.

Udinese Calcio

In November 2008, he signed a 4.5-year contract with Udinese and joined the club in January 2009. He played with the Primavera team and in July 2009 left on loan for

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. On 10 August 2010 he was loaned again. This time to AC Bellinzona, playing in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

top level. On 29 July 2012, it was announced that Mattila had joined his former club, HJK, on loan until end of December 2013.

Aalesunds FK

On 3 November 2013, it was announced that Mattila has signed a three-year contract with Aalesunds FK in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

's Tippeligaen.

Fulham FC

On 4 August 2015 Mattila signed for Fulham FC for an undisclosed fee. On 8 August 2016 his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Sønderjyske Elitesport

Two days after he terminated his contract with Fulham FC, Matilla signed for SønderjyskE. He signed a three-year contract. Mattila made his Superliga debut on 14 August 2016 in a match against Brøndby when on 64th minute he replaced

Adama Guira Adama Guira (born 24 April 1988) is a Burkinabé professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Qingdao Hainiu and the Burkina Faso national team. Club career Born in Bobo-Dioulasso, Guira has played club football in Burkin ...

as a substitute.

Fredrikstad

On 29 July 2018, Mattila signed a contract with Fredrikstad.

International career

He made his debut for the Finnish national team on 30 October 2013 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadiu ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Mattila earned his second cap for

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 ...

on 5 March 2014, in the 2:1 away win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in a

after coming on as a last minute substitute for

Roman Eremenko Roman Alekseyevich Eremenko (russian: Роман Алексеевич Ерёменко; born 19 March 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder who plays for HIFK in the Veikkausliiga. Eremenko is best known for hi ...

. Mattila made his

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

qualification match debut on 29 March 2015 on

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

when

Mixu Paatelainen Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and the head coach of Veikkausliiga club HIFK. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for the Finnish national team, which makes him Finland's ...

chose him to the starting eleven for a match against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours and achievements

Club

; HJK Helsinki * Veikkausliiga:

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 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* Finnish Cup:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

SønderjyskE Fodbold official profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattila, Sakari 1989 births Living people Finnish footballers Finland youth international footballers Finland under-21 international footballers Finland international footballers Finnish expatriate footballers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Udinese Calcio players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players AC Bellinzona players Fulham F.C. players SønderjyskE Fodbold players Fredrikstad FK players Klubi 04 players HIFK Fotboll players Aalesunds FK players Veikkausliiga players Norwegian Second Division players Serie B players Danish Superliga players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Eliteserien players English Football League players Association football midfielders Footballers from Tampere Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Denmark Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark