Hannu Tihinen


Hannu Tihinen is a retired Finnish footballer who played as a defender.
He has played for clubs in Finland, Norway, England, Belgium and Switzerland. Tihinen achieved five championships in three countries in a career that ended in 2010, a cup title in two countries and captained almost all of his club teams.

Club career

Born in Keminmaa, Lapland, Tihinen started his career with KePS in the lower divisions before moving to Veikkausliiga club HJK for the 1997 season. He won both the Finnish championship and Finnish Cup once with HJK, and also earned UEFA Champions League experience with the club in the 1998–99 season.
Tihinen then joined Norwegian club Viking in 2000. He spent two and a half seasons with Viking, while also having a brief loan spell at West Ham United in the English Premiership. Whilst at West Ham he played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2000–01 FA Cup.
In 2002 Tihinen joined Belgian club Anderlecht. He played in Belgium for four years, winning two Belgian championships.
After Tihinen's contract with Anderlecht expired in the summer of 2006, he was snapped up by FC Zürich on a three-year deal. He was captain of the 2006–07 Swiss Championship and the 2008–09 Swiss Championship winning team. On 30 September 2009, Tihinen scored the winning goal for Zürich after 10 minutes against A.C. Milan in the Group C game of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.
On 7 May 2010, Tihinen announced that he would retire after the 2009–10 season, mainly because of his head injuries. His last game was an away draw against Neuchâtel Xamax on 16 May 2010.

International career

Tihinen made his debut for the Finnish national team on 5 June 1999 against Turkey. He formed Finland's regular central defensive pairing with Sami Hyypiä for most of the 2000s.

Helmet

Tihinen injured his head many times during his career. Because of that he wore a helmet during his last seasons. He was also very good with his head, which he used to score most of his goals.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Tihinen joined FC Zürich as an assistant director.
On 13 April 2012, he announced his candidacy to run for the new president of the Football Association of Finland, as the post was left open after Sauli Niinistö was elected as President of Finland.
After his career, Tihinen has studied international sports management and since 2014, he has been the technical director of the Finnish Football Association.

Career statistics

International goals

Finland’s score first.
#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 June 1999 Helsinki2–4LossUEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2.15 August 2001 Helsinki4–1WinFriendly
3.12 October 2002 Helsinki3–0WinUEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
4.7 September 2005 Tampere5–1Win2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.5 September 2009 Lankaran2–1Win2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

HJK
Viking
Anderlecht
Zürich