Joel Pohjanpalo
Joel Pohjanpalo (born 13 September 1994 Helsinki) is a Finnish football players. Since 2011 he is the Finnish first division club HJK Helsinki under contract; in September 2013 he was loaned to the German second division VfR Aalen.
Club career
Pohjanpalo went through the youth teams HJK Helsinki, before he was allowed in 2011 to play for the first team Klubi - 04 from Helsinki in the third-class Kakkonen. At 25 missions he scored 33 goals for Klubi -04, which the club finished the season as the first table in the relegation but failed on ascent. In 2011 however, he returned to his youth club, and gave on 26 October 2011 compared RoPS Rovaniemi his debut in the First Division. Also in the season opener on April 15, 2012 Pohjanpalo stood in the starting line-up against HJK IFK Mariehamn. In this game, he scored three goals for his club's 3-1 win within three minutes. With the HJK 2012 he won the Finnish Championship, where Pohjanpalo was used in 28 of the 33 league games. With eleven goals, he finished eighth in the scoring standings. In the 2013 season Pohjanpalo go against IFK Mariehamn again three hits in a game. HJK won the game 5-0.
In September 2013 Pohjanpalo was loaned to the German second division VfR Aalen. A rental contract will run until 30 June 2014., After that date to first division side Bayer 04 Leverkusen has secured an option to purchase the player.
National
On 14 November 2012, he was in Cyprus his debut in the Finnish national team of men. 3-0 Friendly Match victory against Cyprus Finland he came on in the 70th minute for Teemu Pukki.
Achievements
- Finnish Champion in 2011 and 2012 ( with HJK Helsinki)
- Finnish Cup Winner 2011 ( with HJK Helsinki)