Onni Valakari

Onni Valakari
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-08-18) 18 August 1999 (age 24)
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
Youth career
2007–2013 KäPa[2]
2013–2016 SJK[3]
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 119 (38)
International career‡
Finland U18
2017 Finland U19 1 (0)
2019–2020 Finland U21 13 (4)
2020– Finland[4] 11 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2023

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.

Career

On 5 August 2018 Valakari signed with the Norwegian club Tromsø,[5]

In January 2020 he moved to Pafos.[6] On 25 November 2022, Valakari extended his contract with Pafos until June 2026.[7]

International career

He played for Finland at under-19 and under-21 levels.[8]

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.[9]

Valakari was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[10]

Personal life

His father Simo and brother Paavo have also played football professionally.[11] Onni was born in Scotland when his father had a stint as a player at Motherwell.[12][13][14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 January 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SJK Akatemia 2015 Kakkonen 2 0 0 0 — 2 0
TPS 2017 Ykkönen 13 6 0 0 — 13 6
2018 Veikkausliiga 16 4 4 1 — 20 5
Total 29 10 4 1 — 33 11
SalPa (loan) 2017 Kakkonen 2 0 0 0 — 2 0
Tromsø 2018 Eliteserien 13 2 0 0 — 13 2
2019 29 7 3 0 — 32 7
Total 42 9 3 0 — 45 9
Pafos 2019–20 Cypriot First Division 6 5 0 0 — 6 5
2020–21 36 13 2 2 — 38 15
2021–22 26 10 2 1 — 28 11
2022–23 33 7 6 1 — 39 8
2023–24 18 3 1 1 — 19 4
Total 119 38 11 5 — 130 43
Career total 194 57 18 6 0 0 205 63

International

As of 23 September 2022
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Finland 2020 4 1
2021 5 0
2022 2 0
Total 11 1
As of match played on 7 June 2022. Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
No Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 November 2020 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France 1  France 2–0 2–0 Friendly

References

  1. ^ Onni Valakari at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ Käpylän Pallon kasvatit Suomessa ja ulkomailla, KäPa
  3. ^ Ilmiöksi yhdessä illassa, Helsingin Sanomat, 13 November 2020
  4. ^ "Onni Valakari". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Valakari klar for Gutan" (in Norwegian). Tromsø IL. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  6. ^ "onni valakari joins pafos fc".
  7. ^ "PAFOS FC EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH ONNI VALAKARI". pafosfc.com.cy. Pafos FC. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  8. ^ Onni Valakari at WorldFootball.net
  9. ^ "Finland beat world champions France" – via bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Näillä pelaajilla Huuhkajat lähtevät kohti EM-kisoja – kaksi nimeä kiinnostivat yli muiden" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  11. ^ Kuparinen, Heikki (12 November 2020). "Marcus Forss ja Onni Valakari nousivat sukujensa parhaiksi maalintekijöiksi A-maajoukkueessa heti debyyteissään".
  12. ^ Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven. "Euro 2020: your complete guide to all 622 players" – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. ^ "Meet Finland's Motherwell-born starlet" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ McGilvray, Andy (21 June 2021). "Finland star who stunned France was born in Motherwell". Daily Record.
  15. ^ "Onni Valakari". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 26 August 2019.