Janne Johannes Saarinen (born 28 February 1977, in Espoo) is a retired Finnish footballer.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Janne Johannes Saarinen | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-02-28) 28 February 1977 (age 45) | ||
| Place of birth | Espoo, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1996 | HJK Helsinki | 46 | (2) |
| 1997–1998 | IFK Göteborg | 3 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | HJK Helsinki | 37 | (3) |
| 2001–2003 | Rosenborg | 41 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | 1860 München | 17 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | FC Copenhagen | 16 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Honka | 38 | (8) |
| 2008–2009 | Häcken | 37 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | HJK Helsinki | 5 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2000–2008 | Finland | 42 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Saarinen started his career as a promising attacking midfielder at HJK Helsinki, making his Veikkausliiga debut in 1993. In 1997, he moved to Swedish giants IFK Göteborg, but never made a breakthrough – partly because of injuries. After two years he returned to HJK, where he was converted to a left back by the then coach Jyrki Heliskoski. He impressed in his new position, earning a move to Norwegian giants Rosenborg in 2001. In 2003, Saarinen moved to 1860 Munich of the German Bundesliga, but he was not successful there, and moved to Danish giants FC København in 2004. Saarinen returned to Finland with home-town club FC Honka for the 2006 season, stating he wanted to play in a more attacking role once more. In 2008 Saarinen joined Häcken from Sweden, where he played for two years. On 11 September 2009, Saarinen went back to HJK Helsinki.
Saarinen made his debut for the Finnish national team on 16 August 2000 against Norway. He was Finland's first choice left back for most of the first half of the 2000s.
| Finland national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 |
| 2001 | 7 | 0 |
| 2002 | 8 | 0 |
| 2003 | 9 | 0 |
| 2004 | 5 | 0 |
| 2005 | 7 | 0 |
| 2006 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 42 | 0 |
HJK Helsinki
Rosenborg
FC Copenhagen