Sami Hyypia - the legend of the Finnish national team and "Liverpool"

Sami Hyypiä is a legendary Finnish football player, who is inferior in terms of the number of matches for the national team only to Jonathan Johansson and Jari Litmanen. But at the club level, the central defender achieved good results: he managed to play in different championships, and after the end of his career he became a coach almost immediately. What career path was Sami Hyypia? In which clubs did he play and which ones he coached?

Start a career in Finland

Sami Hyypiä began his football career at an early age. Already in four years he was in the academy of the local club "Kumu", where he learned everything that he could eventually show on the football field. For eleven years, Sami was in the structure of this club, until in 1989 he moved to the club "PaPe" at the age of 16 years. There he was able to play in three games for the main team, before in 1990 he did not go back to "Kumu". There, for two years he played in 19 matches, and in January 1992, when he turned 18, Sami Hyypya signed a professional contract with the club "MyPa".

It was in this team that he got the practice game before moving to a more prestigious European club. For three years in the Finnish club's central defender played in 96 games and even scored eight goals. His speeches, of course, attracted the attention of other clubs. In 1995, the athlete became a player of the Dutch club "Willem II", in which he stayed for a long time.

Moving to Holland

In Holland, the 22-year-old defender quickly took root, settled and began to perform in the first team. In just four years in the club, he played in 100 games, scoring three goals. However, if you think that Hyypi Sami has found his home in Willem, you are mistaken. The fact is that he did not stop there.

In 1999, the 26-year-old player received an invitation from Liverpool. The club paid the Dutchmen four and a half million euros of compensation, after which Hyypius Sami became a full-fledged player of the "Merseyside".

Career in "Liverpool"

From the first season, Sami Hyypiä became the player of the foundation in the English club. In total, he spent ten years there. These were incredible years, during which he won many trophies. Four FA Cups, two League Cups, one UEFA Cup and one prestigious trophy in the football world Champions League.

Performances of the Finn in "Liverpool" are impressive, as he held a huge number of matches. To date, everyone knows who is the defender Sami Hyypiä. Statistics for the English club is amazing: 464 matches and 35 goals in ten years. Only in 2009, the 36-year-old left the club, which became his family, as he was ready to play a couple of years, but Liverpool could not give him a place in the base.

Completion of his career in the "Bayer"

It would seem that the age of the player was already impressive, but he managed to play two more seasons at the highest level in the Leverkusen "Bayer". Statistics of goals and matches Sami Hyypia has been replenished even more: in the German club the Finn has spent 53 more games, scoring 3 goals. And only in 2011, at the age of 38, the player announced the end of his career as a football player.

National team appearances

For the national team of Finland Sami debuted in 1992 at the age of 19, then he was released on the field right in the match against the French national team. Unfortunately, for the whole incredibly long career, Hyypia could not participate in any of the major tournaments, as the overall level of the national team was extremely low. But he managed, as already mentioned above, to win one hundred and five games and score five goals. The last game he held in October 2010 against the national team of Hungary. After that, he officially announced that he was completing his career in the national team.

Coach career

Immediately after the completion of his career, Sami was promoted to assistant coach in the Finnish national team, where he stayed until March 2012, when he led the "Bayer" with Sasha Lewandowski. Then he did not have an official coaching license, so he was listed as an assistant until in July 2013 he was appointed a full-time coach after receiving the necessary qualifications.

A year later Sami headed the English club "Brighton and Hove Albion", at the helm of which he stayed for six months. And in August 2015, Huyupya was appointed coach of the Swiss "Zurich", where he was fired for three rounds before the end of the season, as his club was in last place. At the moment, the Finn is out of work and is looking for options for continuing his career.