Onni Valakari

Onni Valakari (born 18 August 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Pafos and the Finnish national team.

Onni Valakari
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-08-18) 18 August 1999
Place of birth Motherwell, Scotland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Pafos
Number 24
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 SJK Akatemia 2 (0)
2017–2018 TPS 29 (10)
2017 → SalPa (loan) 2 (0)
2018–2019 Tromsø 42 (9)
2020– Pafos 97 (35)
International career‡
Finland U18
Finland U19
Finland U21
2020– Finland[2] 11 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 April 2023 (UTC)

Career

On 5 August 2018 Valakari signed with the Norwegian club Tromsø,[3] In January 2020 he moved to Pafos.[4] On 25 November 2022, Valakari extended his contract with Pafos until June 2026.[5]

International career

He played for Finland at under-19 and under-21 levels.[6]

Valakari made his senior international debut for Finland on 11 November 2020, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 victory over France. The other goalscorer was fellow debutant Marcus Forss.[7]

Valakari was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[8] He was eligible for Scotland due to being born in the country.[9]

Personal life

His father Simo and brother Paavo have also played football professionally.[10] Onni was born in Scotland when his father had a stint as a player at Motherwell.[11] He was eligible for Scotland due to being born in the country.[9]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 24 December 2022.[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Akatemia 2015 Kakkonen 2000—20
TPS 2017 Ykkönen 13600—136
2018 Veikkausliiga 16441—205
Total 291041—3311
SalPa (loan) 2017 Kakkonen 2000—20
Tromsø 2018 Eliteserien 13200—132
2019 Eliteserien 29730—327
Total 42930—459
Pafos 2019–20 Cypriot First Division 6500—65
2020–21 Cypriot First Division 361322—3815
2021–22 Cypriot First Division 261021—2811
2022–23 Cypriot First Division 16510—175
Total 843353—8936
Career total 159521240017156

International
As of 21 June 2022
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 202041
202150
202210
Total101
As of match played on 7 June 2022. Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
NoDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 November 2020Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France1 France2–02–0Friendly

References
  1. Onni Valakari at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Onni Valakari". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. "Valakari klar for Gutan" (in Norwegian). Tromsø IL. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. "onni valakari joins pafos fc".
  5. "PAFOS FC EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH ONNI VALAKARI". pafosfc.com.cy. Pafos FC. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. Onni Valakari at WorldFootball.net
  7. "Finland beat world champions France" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "Näillä pelaajilla Huuhkajat lähtevät kohti EM-kisoja – kaksi nimeä kiinnostivat yli muiden" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  9. https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/jun/04/euro-2020-complete-guide-to-all-622-players-ratings%7Ctitle=Euro 2020: your complete guide to all 622 players
  10. Kuparinen, Heikki (12 November 2020). "Marcus Forss ja Onni Valakari nousivat sukujensa parhaiksi maalintekijöiksi A-maajoukkueessa heti debyyteissään".
  11. Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven. "Euro 2020: your complete guide to all 622 players" – via www.theguardian.com.
  12. "Onni Valakari". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 26 August 2019.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.