Jari Litmanen facts for kids
Litmanen in 2015
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 February 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Lahti, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder Second striker |
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| Youth career | |||
| 1977–1987 | Reipas | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1987–1990 | Reipas | 86 | (28) |
| 1991 | HJK | 27 | (16) |
| 1992 | MyPa | 18 | (7) |
| 1992–1999 | Ajax | 159 | (91) |
| 1999–2001 | Barcelona | 21 | (3) |
| 2001–2002 | Liverpool | 26 | (5) |
| 2002–2004 | Ajax | 20 | (5) |
| 2004 | Lahti | 11 | (3) |
| 2005 | Hansa Rostock | 13 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | Malmö FF | 10 | (3) |
| 2008 | Fulham | 0 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Lahti | 40 | (10) |
| 2011 | HJK | 18 | (1) |
| Total | 449 | (173) | |
| National team | |||
| 1989–2010 | Finland | 137 | (32) |
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Jari Olavi Litmanen (born 20 February 1971) is a famous Finnish former footballer. He played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. Many people think he is the greatest Finnish football player ever.
He was the main captain for the Finland national team from 1996 to 2008. His international career lasted a very long time, from 1989 to 2010. In 2003, he was chosen as the best Finnish player of the last 50 years.
In Finland, people often call him "Litti" or "Kuningas" (which means "The King").
Jari Litmanen played for many clubs. These include Reipas, HJK, MyPa, and Lahti in Finland. He also played for big teams like Ajax, Barcelona, and Liverpool abroad.
He became a huge football star when he played for Ajax in the mid-1990s. He even won the Champions League with them in 1995. This was the best part of his career. Later, injuries made it hard for him to play as much.
Contents
Jari Litmanen's Club Journey
Starting His Career in Finland
Jari Litmanen started playing for the first team of Reipas in Finland when he was only 16 years old in 1987. After four seasons, he moved to HJK in 1991. This was Finland's biggest club.
A year later, he joined MyPa. He won the Finnish Cup with MyPa in 1992. His great performance in the cup final, where he scored a goal, helped him get noticed by Ajax. He moved to Ajax that summer.
Becoming a Star at Ajax
Before joining Ajax, Litmanen almost signed with other clubs. But Ajax was the team that bought him. David Endt, who worked for Ajax, said Jari had a "great willpower." He was modest but a true leader. His teammates even called him "the Professor" because he knew so much about football.
In his first season at Ajax (1992–93), he mostly played for the reserve team. But then, the main player, Dennis Bergkamp, got injured. Jari took his place and played so well that the manager, Louis van Gaal, decided Jari would be Bergkamp's replacement.
Jari got the famous number 10 shirt, which is often given to the team's main playmakers. In the 1993–94 season, he scored 26 goals and was the top scorer in the league. He also helped Ajax win the league title. In 1993, he was named the best footballer in the Netherlands.
Jari was a key player for Ajax when they won three Dutch championships in a row. They also reached the UEFA Champions League final twice. From 1994 to 1996, Ajax went undefeated in many games.
When Ajax won the Champions League final against Milan in 1995, Jari Litmanen became the first Finnish player to win this big trophy. In the next Champions League season (1995–96), he was the top scorer with nine goals. He scored in the final against Juventus, but Ajax lost on penalties.
In 1995, he also won the Intercontinental Cup. He finished third in the voting for the Ballon d'Or, which is a huge award for the best player in Europe.
Jari spent seven years in Amsterdam. He won four Dutch championships and three KNVB Cups. He scored 129 goals for Ajax, with 91 of them in the league. He is the club's top scorer in European games. Jari is one of only three players featured in a special video at the Ajax Museum. His teammate, Frank Rijkaard, once said Jari was the best number 10 Ajax ever had. Some fans even called him "Merlin" because of his amazing skills.
However, Jari was also known as "The Man of Glass" because he got injured often. These injuries caused him to miss many games. This problem got worse later in his career.
Time at Barcelona and Liverpool
In 1999, Jari Litmanen joined Barcelona, where he played for his old manager, Louis van Gaal. But his time there was mostly affected by injuries. He found it hard to get used to the new team. Van Gaal was disappointed because Jari wasn't the same player he was at Ajax.
After a difficult season, Jari left Barcelona in January 2001. He moved to Liverpool for free. The Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier, was very excited to sign him. Jari said it had always been his dream to play for Liverpool.
Jari started well at Liverpool, but he broke his wrist playing for Finland in March 2001. He missed the rest of that season. Even though he was part of the Liverpool team that won three trophies in 2001 (the League Cup, FA Cup, and UEFA Cup), he missed all the finals because of his injury.
The next season, he didn't play much for Liverpool. He scored some goals in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, but his ankle problems made it hard for him to play full games every week. Jari was frustrated because he didn't get enough playing time. After a season and a half, he left Liverpool in 2002.
Returning to Ajax and Later Clubs
Jari decided to go back to Ajax, where fans gave him a hero's welcome. He helped Ajax reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2003. But injuries kept bothering him, and he missed many games again. He left Ajax in 2004.
He then returned to Finland to play for Lahti. This was a big moment for Finnish football fans, who called it "the return of the king." After that, he played briefly for Hansa Rostock in Germany in 2005.
In July 2005, Jari joined the Swedish club Malmö FF. He hoped to help them qualify for the Champions League, but he got injured again. He tried to continue with Malmö in 2006, but injuries kept him off the field.
In 2008, Jari had a trial with Fulham in England. He signed with them but didn't play any first-team games. He was released a few months later.
Final Years in Finland
On 8 August 2008, Jari Litmanen rejoined his old club Lahti in the Finnish Premier Division. Even though he played only a short time in his first match, he scored twice and helped his team score two more goals. He helped Lahti finish third in the league, which was a big achievement for the club.
He scored his 50th Veikkausliiga goal in October 2010. In April 2011, Jari signed with HJK at age 40. This made him one of the few footballers to play professionally in four different decades (1980s–2010s). He usually came on as a substitute for 10–30 minutes.
In September 2011, he scored a spectacular goal in the Finnish Cup final, helping HJK win 2–1. This was his first Finnish Cup win since 1992. In October 2011, HJK won their third Finnish championship in a row, winning the "Double" (league and cup). Jari Litmanen played 18 matches for HJK that season, and they won every game he was on the field for until the very end of the season. His last professional game was on 29 October 2011.
Playing for Finland
Jari Litmanen has played the most games for the Finland national team. He was also Finland's top goalscorer for a long time until Teemu Pukki broke his record in 2021. His international career lasted 21 years, from 1989 to 2010.
He played his first game for Finland in 1989 and scored his first goal in 1991. Jari was Finland's captain from 1996 to 2008. He was their most important player for over ten years, helping the team win many unexpected games against stronger opponents.
In January 2006, he played his 100th game for Finland. He is one of only four Finnish players to reach this milestone. In January 2010, Jari became one of the few male players to play for a national team in four different decades.
On 17 November 2010, Jari Litmanen became the oldest player ever to score for Finland. He scored a penalty in an 8–0 win against San Marino. This was his last international match.
Life After Playing
After he stopped playing professionally in 2011, Jari Litmanen has sometimes worked as a TV expert for football games. He also wrote comments for a newspaper.
His former teammates at Ajax have said that the door is always open for him to work for the club as a coach. They believe he has a lot of experience to share with younger players. Jari Litmanen has confirmed in his autobiography that his professional playing career is over.
Personal Life
Jari Litmanen comes from a football family. His father, Olavi Litmanen, also played for the Finnish national team and for Reipas. His mother also played football at a high level.
Jari has two sons, Caro (born 2005) and Bruno (born 2007), with his Estonian girlfriend Ly Jürgenson.
On 10 October 2010, Jari Litmanen became the first Finnish team sport player to have a statue made in his honour. The statue stands in Lahti, where he started his football journey. A documentary film about his career, called The King – Jari Litmanen, was released in 2012.
In May 2020, Jari Litmanen shared that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and had been recovering for four weeks. He said it was one of the toughest times he had experienced.
Honours
MyPa
- Finnish Cup: 1992
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2003–04
- KNVB Cup: 1992–93, 1997–98, 1998–99
- Dutch Supercup: 1993, 1994, 1995
- UEFA Champions League: 1994–95
- UEFA Super Cup: 1995
- Intercontinental Cup: 1995
Liverpool
- FA Cup: 2000–01
- Football League Cup: 2000–01
- FA Charity Shield: 2001
- UEFA Cup: 2000–01
- UEFA Super Cup: 2001
HJK
- Veikkausliiga: 2011
- Finnish Cup: 2011
Finland
- Nordic Football Championship: 2000–01
Individual Awards
- Finnish Sports Journalists Player of the Year (8 times): 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
- Finnish Football Association Player of the Year (9 times): 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000
- Veikkausliiga Player of the Year: 1990
- Dutch Footballer of the Year: 1993
- Dutch league top scorer: 1993–94 (26 goals)
- Ballon d'Or: 1994 (8th place), 1995 (3rd place)
- Finnish Sports Personality of the Year: 1995
- ESM Team of the Year: 1994–95, 1995–96
- UEFA Champions League top scorer: 1995–96 (9 goals)
- Captain's Ball: 2002
- UEFA Jubilee Awards – Greatest Finnish Footballer of the last 50 Years: 2003
- Most-capped player for the Finland national team: 137 games
- 2nd all-time top scorer for the Finland national team: 32 goals
- All-time top scorer in Europe for Ajax: 26 goals
- Oldest Player to Score in UEFA European Championship qualifying: 39 years and 270 days
- FC Lahti Hall of Fame: 2016
Images for kids
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Jari Litmanen being interviewed in 2015.
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Jari Litmanen playing in a friendly match in 2017.
