Aki Riihilahti

Football player infobox


playername = Aki Riihilahti
fullname = Aki Pasinpoika Riihilahti
height = height|meter=1.85
nickname = Ägä, Riihikongen
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|09|9
cityofbirth = Helsinki
countryofbirth = Finland
currentclub = Djurgårdens IF
clubnumber = 29
position = Midfielder
years = 1995-1999
1999-2001
2001-2006
2006-2007
2007-
clubs = HJK Vålerenga Crystal Palace FC Kaiserslautern
Djurgårdens IF
caps(goals) = 062 0(11)
049 00(5)
160 0(14)
010 00(1)
0011 00(0)
nationalyears = 1998-
nationalteam = Finland
nationalcaps(goals) = 069 0(11)
pcupdate = O8 September, 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 08:46, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Aki Pasinpoika Riihilahti (born September 9 1976 in Helsinki) is a Finnish footballer who currently plays for Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan. He is known as a hard working, defensive midfielder.

Riihilahti started his career at HJK where he made his Veikkausliiga debut in 1995. He won the Finnish championship once and the Finnish Cup twice with HJK, and also gained UEFA Champions League experience in the 1998-99 season. Riihilahti then moved to Norway's Vålerenga I.F. for the 1999 season. After two seasons in Norway he joined England's Crystal Palace in 2001, and eventually became a fans' favourite at the club. In Palace's 2004-05 Premiership season he showed he has what it takes to play in one of Europe's top leagues. Aki was so loved by the Crystal Palace faithful that a Finnish flag with the legend 'AKI 15' across the centre was hung behind one of the Selhurst Park goals for the entire Premiership season. However, his next season, back in the Championship, following Palace's relegation, was not so successful because injuries limited his chances, despite not playing for most of his last season Aki has the Palace record for winning the most caps for his country whilst at Palace. After his contract with Palace expired in the summer of 2006, he was picked up by Kaiserslautern on a one-year deal. In June 2007, Riihilathi signed a two and a half year deal with Stockholm club Djurgårdens IF.

Riihilahti made his debut for the Finnish national team on February 5, 1998 against Cyprus. He has been a regular for Finland for the most of 2000s and is set to continue to do so in the near future.

Riihilahti has also become something of a cult figure because of columns he writes for newspapers, such as "The Times" and the Finnish "Iltalehti".

Honours

HJK Helsinki

*Finnish Championship: 1997
*Finnish Cup: 1996, 1998
*Finnish League Cup: 1996, 1997, 1998

=Crystal Palace=

*English First Division play-offs: 2004

External links

* [http://www.akiriihilahti.com/ Aki Riihilahti - The Official Homepage]
* [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=4872&cc=5739 Profile at ESPNsoccernet.com]