Juhani Ojala (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjuhɑni ˈʔojɑlɑ]; born 19 June 1989) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back, most recently for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell, and the Finland national team. Ojala was born in Vantaa, Finland where he played for the local youth team before moving to HJK's organisation.
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Juhani Lauri Henrik Ojala | ||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Vantaa, Finland[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
2001–2005 | VJS | ||||||||||||||||||
2006–2008 | HJK | ||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Klubi 04 | 14 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
2009–2011 | HJK | 41 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
2011–2013 | Young Boys | 23 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2013–2016 | Terek Grozny | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2015 | → HJK (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2016 | SJK | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2017–2019 | Häcken | 32 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||
2019–2021 | Vejle | 45 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
2021–2022 | Motherwell | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||||
2007 | Finland U-19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Finland U-20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2009–2010 | Finland U-21 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2011– | Finland | 31 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:02, 1 September 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:16, 29 July 2021 (UTC) |
Ojala made his international debut for Finland in November 2011, at the age of 22.
During the 2009 season, Ojala represented mostly Klubi-04, HJK's reserve squad. In the beginning of the 2010 season, however, he was selected to HJK's first eleven, due to various injuries in the squad. His performances were outstanding, and he quickly established himself as one of the key players in HJK's victorious 2010 campaign, playing in all games. Ojala became one of the best and most talented players in the Veikkausliiga, and his performances provoked widespread international interest.[2] At the end of the 2010 Veikkausliiga season, he was officially selected as the defender of the year.[3]
On 9 April 2011 Ojala signed a contract extension with HJK, the new contract running until 2014.[4] But in July, HJK announced that Ojala would transfer to Swiss team BSC Young Boys on 13 August.[5]
He gained notoriety in England during Young Boys' 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage match against Liverpool at the Stade de Suisse. In an eventful match, which ended 5–3 to the Reds, Ojala opened the score with an own goal, putting the ball past Marco Wölfli, his own goalkeeper. He later made amends by scoring a header to bring Young Boys level at 2–2 just after half time.
After a year and a half in Switzerland on 12 February 2013 it was announced that Ojala would transfer to Russian Premier League team Terek Grozny.[6]
On 29 July 2015, Ojala rejoined HJK on loan for the remainder of the 2015 Veikkausliiga season.[7] He had a trial with Coventry City F.C. at the end of the season, but was not signed.
On 1 September 2016, Ojala signed with SJK.[8]
On 26 August 2019, Danish 1st Division club Vejle Boldklub confirmed, that they had signed Ojala.[9] He reached promotion to the Danish Superliga during his first season at the club,[10] and personally finished with 22 appearances in which he scored two goals.[11]
On 14 September 2020, his debut in the Superliga, he scored in a 4–2 loss to rivals AGF.[12]
On 29 July 2021, Motherwell announced the signing of Ojala on a two-year contract.[13] Ojala left Motherwell by mutual consent on 1 September 2022, having played 24 times for the club.[14]
In November 2010, after representing Finland on youth levels, Ojala was called up to the national team squad to face San Marino. He made his national team debut on 15 November 2011 in a friendly match against Denmark in Esbjerg when Mixu Paatelainen used him as a substitute.[15] He gained his first FIFA World Cup qualification appearance 12 October 2012 in Helsinki Olympic Stadium in a match against Georgia.[16] During autumn of 2012 he established himself as a regular in the national team.
Ojala was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[17]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Klubi 04 | 2009 | Ykkönen | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
HJK | 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 4 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||||
2010 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | — | 41 | 2 | |||
2011 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 23 | 1 | |||
Total | 45 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 3 | ||
Young Boys | 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
2012–13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | — | 22 | 1 | ||||
Total | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
Terek Grozny | 2012–13 | Russian Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
2013–14 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 0 | |||||
2014–15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
Total | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
HJK (loan) | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
SJK | 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
BK Häcken | 2017 | Allsvenskan | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
2018 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 0[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
2019 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
Total | 32 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 4 | ||
Vejle | 2019–20 | Danish 1st Division | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 2 | |||
2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||||
Total | 45 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 3 | ||
Motherwell | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||
2022–23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
Total | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 24 | 1 | ||
Career total | 215 | 10 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 265 | 13 |
Finland national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2011 | 1 | 0 |
2012 | 4 | 0 |
2013 | 4 | 0 |
2014 | 4 | 0 |
2015 | 1 | 0 |
2016 | 2 | 0 |
2017 | 6 | 1 |
2018 | 1 | 0 |
2019 | 2 | 0 |
2020 | 4 | 0 |
2021 | 2 | 0 |
Total | 31 | 1 |
No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1. | 9 January 2017 | Tahnoun bin Mohamed Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
Finland national football team
Towards the end of the match, however, Vejle managed to score twice and create renewed tension. First, Ghanaian debutant Raphael Dwamena scored on a low strike from the edge of the box, and then Finnish Juhani Ojala came on the scoreboard with a header after a corner kick in the 84th minute.