Satu Kunnas (born 3 September 1977) is a Finnish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She made 46 appearances for the Finland women's national football team between 1996 and 2005. She played club football for multiple teams in Finland and Norway.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1977-09-03) 3 September 1977 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| HJK Helsinki | |||
| Asker | |||
| –2005 | Fløya | ||
| 2005– | FC United | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| 1996–2005 | Finland | 46 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:40, 6 March 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:35, 5 March 2021 (UTC) | |||
Kunnas was born on 3 September 1977 in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006, she started training to become a police officer.[1]
At club level, Kunnas played for HJK Helsinki, where she won the 1995 Kansallinen Liiga. She later played for Norwegian teams Asker and Fløya.[1] In 2005, Kunnas returned to Finland to play for FC United.[1][2] She played in the 2005–06 UEFA Women's Cup for FC United.[1] In a UEFA Cup match against Røa IL, Kunnas sustained a knee injury which sidelined her for six months.[3]
Kunnas made her international debut for Finland in a 1996 Algarve Cup match against Sweden.[1] After making one appearance per year in 1996, 1997 and 1998, she became Finland's main goalkeeper after Johanna Lindell retired in 2004.[2] That year, she was part of the first Finland team to qualify for the UEFA Women's Championship.[1] Kunnas represented Finland at UEFA Women's Euro 2005,[4] where they finished joint third,[4] after losing their semi-final 4–1 to Germany.[5] She was praised by teammate Laura Kalmari for her performance in Finland's group stage match against Denmark, a match they won 2–1.[1] She retired from international football after UEFA Euro 2005.[6] In total, Kunnas made 46 appearances for Finland.[6]
In 2005, she was awarded the Finland Women's Player of the Year award.[7] She was also shortlisted for FIFA World Player of the Year in the same year.[8]