Jari Litmanen

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Born
1971 (55 years old)
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Lahti, Finland

Position
Attacking Midfield

Status

Ethnicity
White

Team Number

Height
182 cm

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Wage Year

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Sport

Soccer

Team
_Retired Soccer

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Description

Jari Olavi Litmanen (pronounced (listen); born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former footballer. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010.

Litmanen is widely considered to be Finland's greatest football player of all time. He was chosen as the best Finnish player of the last 50 years by the Football Association of Finland in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. He also finished 42nd in the 100 Greatest Finns voting in 2004. The Association of Football Statisticians' (The AFS) compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers' listed Litmanen as the 53rd best footballer ever.

In Finland, he is often called "Litti" (after Pierre Littbarski and his own surname), which dates from his early years, and is also known as "Kuningas" ("The King").

During his club career, Litmanen represented Reipas, HJK, MyPa and Lahti in Finland, and Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, Hansa Rostock and Malmö FF abroad. Once considered one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, he became the first Finnish footballing superstar while playing for Ajax in the mid-1990s, winning the Champions League in 1995, the peak year of his career.

His later career was marred by injuries, and he was unable to repeat the success of his Ajax years either at Barcelona or Liverpool, often finding himself on the bench, despite some impressive performances for the latter. Writing about Litmanen in 2009, Paul Simpson, former FourFourTwo editor, went as far as to assert that "his career has not been worthy of his talent".

Litmanen is Finland's most capped player and was Finland's leading goalscorer until 12 October 2021, when Teemu Pukki broke the record with two goals against Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier. His international career ran for 21 years from 1989 to 2010.

Litmanen made his Finland debut on 22 October 1989 against Trinidad and Tobago, and scored his first goal on 16 May 1991 against Malta. Litmanen served as Finland's captain from 1996 to 2008, and was arguably their key player for more than a decade, helping the team to many unexpected victories against higher ranked opposition.

Litmanen earned his 100th cap on 25 January 2006 against South Korea, one of only four Finns to have reached such a milestone, the others being Ari Hjelm, Sami Hyypiä and Jonatan Johansson.

When he played for Finland against South Korea on 19 January 2010, Litmanen became one of a handful of male players to represent a national team in four different decades, a feat matched by Andorra's Ildefons Lima in June 2021.

On 17 November 2010, Litmanen became the oldest player ever to score for Finland – and also the oldest player overall to score a goal in the qualifying stages for the UEFA European Championship – when he netted a penalty in an 8–0 win over San Marino, which proved to be his last international match.

Litmanen was born into a footballing family. His father, Olavi Litmanen, was also a Finnish international and a Reipas player. His mother also played for Reipas at the women's highest level.

Litmanen became a father in November 2005 when his Estonian girlfriend Ly Jürgenson gave birth to a son named Caro. The couple's second son, Bruno, was born in September 2007. Although they avoid too much publicity, they are sometimes seen together in public.

On 10 October 2010, Litmanen became the first Finnish team sport player to be honoured with a statue: it stands at Kisapuisto (Lahti) where he started his career in the 1970s. The King – Jari Litmanen is a 2012 documentary film about Litmanen's career.

On 11 May 2020, Litmanen said to Unibet that his coronavirus test was positive, and he had been recovering for four weeks. He said of this time that "I've probably never been in such bad shape".

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Trophies

Finnish Veikkausliiga	HJK Helsinki	2011
Dutch Eredivisie	Ajax	2003-2004
UEFA Super Cup	Barcelona	2001
English FA Community Shield	Barcelona	2001
English Football League Cup	Liverpool	2000-2001
English FA Cup	Liverpool	2000-2001
Dutch KNVB Cup	Ajax	1998-1999
Dutch KNVB Cup	Ajax	1997-1998
Dutch Eredivisie	Ajax	1997-1998
Dutch Eredivisie	Ajax	1995-1996
Johan Cruijff Schaal	Ajax	1995
FIFA Club World Cup	Ajax	1995
UEFA Super Cup	Ajax	1995
Dutch Eredivisie	Ajax	1994-1995
UEFA Champions League	Ajax	1994-1995
Johan Cruijff Schaal	Ajax	1994
Dutch Eredivisie	Ajax	1993-1994
Johan Cruijff Schaal	Ajax	1993
Dutch KNVB Cup	MyPa	1992-1993

Milestones

UEFA Champions League Hat-Trick	Ajax	1995-09-27

Former Youth Teams

No records found

Former Senior Teams

Finland	1989-2010	International	-	-
HJK Helsinki	1991	Permanent	-	-
MyPa	1992	Permanent	-	-
Ajax	1992-1999	Permanent	-	-
Barcelona	1999-2001	Permanent	-	-
Liverpool	2001-2002	Permanent	-	-
Ajax	2002-2004	Permanent	-	-
FC Lahti	2004	Permanent	-	-
Hansa Rostock	2005	Permanent	-	-
Malmo FF	2005-2007	Permanent	-	-
Fulham	2008	Permanent	-	-
FC Lahti	2008-2011	Permanent	-	-
HJK Helsinki	2011	Permanent	-	-