Hyypia

Sami Hyypiä

Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (born 7 October 1973) is a retired European Cup winning Finnish footballer who played in the centre back position. He last played for GermanBundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen and was the captain of the Finland national football team. He joined Leverkusen in summer 2009, ending a ten year spell at Liverpool. On 2 May 2011, Hyypia announced his intention to retire from profesional football at the end of the 2010/11 season in order to take up a coaching role with Bayer Leverkusen.

Hyypiä began his career with Ykkönen side KuMu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping them win the Finnish Cup in 1992 and 1995. He moved to Willem II Tilburg in 1995 and spent the next four years there. He became the team captain and was nominated their player of the year after helping them qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Hyypiä moved to Liverpool, the team he supported as a child, in a deal worth £2.6 million. He quickly established himself in the first team, partnering Stéphane Henchoz in defence. By 2001, he regularly captained the team and that season Liverpool won a slew of honours, completing a cup treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, in addition to winning the UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield. He became first choice captain in the 2001–02 season and was part of the Football League Cup winning team in 2003. Steven Gerrard superseded him as captain in 2003 but Hyypiä still occasionally captained the side in his absence. Hyypiä won his highest football honour in 2005 as a part of Liverpool's victorious 2004–05 Champions League campaign. He is fondly remembered by many fans as a Liverpool legend.

Hyypiä has been a prominent figure in the Finland national team and has been selected as the Finnish Sports' Journalists and Football Association Player of the Yearnumerous times. He made his debut in 1992 and since then has captained the team on various occasions, as second choice captain. He is the second most capped Finnish player after Jari Litmanen.

On 2nd May 2011, Hyypiä announced that he will be retiring from all football at the age of 37. Also stating that he will be trying to spend the next year getting a coaching license and plans to coach for his former playing team Bayer Leverkusen.

Early life

Hyypiä was born in Porvoo and raised in Kuusankoski, Finland, 100 miles (160 km) north-east of Helsinki; the son of Irma and Jouko Hyypiä. Hyypiä's parents were both footballers, his father Jouko playing for Finnish team Pallo Peikot, and his mother an amateur goalkeeper. The young Sami played ice hockey, but his parents' influence was important in him choosing a career in football; as he commented "I guess there was only one career option for me."

Club career Early career

Hyypiä started his career with Pallo-Peikot where he played every position except his final position of defender and KuMu, before joining Veikkausliiga club MyPa for the 1992 season. He won the Finnish Cup with MyPa in 1992 and 1995.

In 1995 at the age of 22, he went for a trial at Newcastle United, his first taste of English football. Hyypiä said "They (Newcastle) certainly helped my career. I had a two-week trial in 1995 under Kevin Keegan and it gave me an insight into English football. I was a young player in Finland and I didn't really expect it to lead to anything. I just went for the experience, but it was good experience and I enjoyed my time there. It helped me a lot at the time to see a big English club at close hand and I always look forward to going back."

Willem II Tilburg

Later that year, Hyypiä joined Dutch club Willem II and spent four years with the Eredivisie team, soon becoming a favourite with the fans and winning their player of the year award in his final season. Hyypiä captained the side to qualification for the Champions League, thus earning a place in the hearts of supporters although he would not be taking part in the campaign.

Liverpool

In May 1999, Hyypiä was signed by Liverpool, the team he supported as a boy, for £2.6 million, having been recommended to former chief executive Peter Robinson by a TV cameraman. Initially, Hyypiä was regarded as an unknown who would not live up to expectations but this preconception was dismissed when he immediately formed a successful central defensive partnership with fellow arrival Stéphane Henchoz. Almost ten years later in a farewell tribute to Hyypiä, Ron Yeats, then the chief scout for Liverpool, commented that the deal was "one of the best bits of business we've done over the years...a steal – a bargain..." In the 2000–01 season, Hyypiä shared the captaincy of Liverpool with Robbie Fowler while Jamie Redknapp, the full-time captain, was suffering from a long-term injury. During that season, Hyypiä and Fowler led the team to a cup treble: the Football League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. He also went on to claim a "treble" of three consecutive FAF Finnish Footballer of the Year awards from 2001–2003.

In 2002, Hyypiä became first choice Liverpool captain after Redknapp, who had been blighted by long-term injuries, and Fowler both left the club. However, after such a bright start to his Liverpool career came a relative lull and in 2003, Hyypiä was replaced as Liverpool captain by Steven Gerrard. With some of the pressure lifted, his performances generally improved.

In 2003, Hyypiä received a red card against Manchester United, the only red of his career. "Van Nistelrooy was going through and maybe I took his shirt a little bit. The referee thought so. I got a straight red card. They got a penalty. It was an agony to watch the game in the dressing room. The only red card of my career. You remember that sort of thing."

In 2004, new Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez moved Jamie Carragher from fullback to partner Hyypiä in central defence. This seemingly reinvigorated Hyypiä and the team went on to have a successful season, winning theUEFA Champions League, on the back of their solid defence. On 10 August 2005, it was reported that Hyypiä had agreed to a new three-year contract after weeks of talks with the Reds which would keep him at Anfield until 2008.

During the 2005–06 season, Hyypiä was relegated to third-choice captain after Jamie Carragher's ascent as Gerrard's deputy on the field. In the FA Cup Sixth Round against Birmingham City, he scored the opening goal in the first minute as the Reds thrashed the home team 7–0. He started in the victorious 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham, though he missed his spot kick in the penalty shoot-out. During the season, he climbed into the top 25 in the club's all-time appearances table after featuring in the Carling Cup against Arsenal in January 2007.

Despite speculation in the summer of 2007 linking him to various other Premier League teams, Hyypiä insisted that he would stay at Liverpool for the remainder of his contract. On 25 August 2007 Hyypiä broke his nose during an away match against Sunderland in the Stadium of Light. He quickly returned on the pitch to play against Toulouse in the Champions League qualifying match on 28 August 2007, in which he scored the second goal for Liverpool while wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

In April 2008, Hyypiä signed a new deal until Summer 2009 with Benítez stating he is a good role model for young defenders such as Martin Škrtel and Daniel Agger. The 2008/2009 season marked the defender's tenth season at the club. On 22 August 2008, Premier League newcomers Stoke City F.C. offered £2.5 million for Hyypiä but Liverpool rejected the offer. On 2 March 2008 with his appearance against Bolton Wanderers, Hyypiä made it into the top 20 Liverpool FC player appearances of all time.

Hyypiä was voted in 19th place in Sky Sports' 'Top 50 Premier League Foreign Players', 45th in FourFourTwo magazine's 100 Greatest Foreign Players and 38th in Liverpool's 100 Players Who Shook the Kop survey. Underlining the important role Hyypiä had fulfilled at Liverpool, Ian Rush noted: "He’s got to be up there with the best signings the club has ever made."

In September 2008, he was not included in the 25-man Liverpool squad for the group stages of the Champions League, as new UEFA regulations meant that clubs had to include at least eight home-grown players in their squad. On 4 May 2009, it was announced that Hyypiä had signed two-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen. Liverpool had offered him the chance to stay at Anfield in a coaching capacity but Hyypiä decided to carry on playing, though he expressed interest in returning to Liverpool as a coach once his playing career is over.

Hyypiä's teammates say farewell.

He played his last match for Liverpool at Anfield against Tottenham Hotspur on 24 May 2009, coming on as a substitute to replace captain Steven Gerrard after 84 minutes in their 3–1 win. Gerrard passed the captain's armband to him, personally putting it onto Hyypiä's arm. During what remained of the match, Hyypiä managed to get a header from a corner kick in the dying minutes of the game but the attempt was blocked by Heurelho Gomes. After the match ended, an emotional Hyypiä received a standing ovation from Liverpool fans and his teammates held him aloft.

  Bayer Leverkusen

Hyypiä moved to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen during summer 2009, making his official debut on 8th August against Mainz. On 24th January 2010 he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3–0 win over Hoffenheim. Hyypiä's first season with Bayer Leverkusen saw his club finishing 4th overall, missing by two points the qualification round for Champions League. German sports magazine "Kicker" chose Hyypiä as best Bundesliga defender in 2009 and he was included Bundesliga team of the year for season 2009/10.

After Roy Hodgson was appointed as the new Liverpool manager in August 2010 rumors began to circulate that he was determined to bring Hyypiä back to Liverpool. The transfer fell through as reportedly Hodgson could not get Hyypiä out of his contract with Bayer Leverkusen.  On 25th September 2010 Hyypiä scored his third ever Bundesliga goal with a header against VfB Stuttgart in a 4–1 win.

Hyypiä made public on 6th October 2010 that post-retirement he plans to join Leverkusen as assistant manager. On 2nd May 2011 Hyypiä announced ending his football career.

International career

Hyypiä made his debut for the Finnish national football team against Tunisia on 7th November 1992 at age of 19. He went on to be a key member of Finnish national team, participating in five European Championship (EC) and four World Cup (WC) qualifiers. He became one of four Finnish national team players ever to reach milestone of 100 international appearances in a friendly against Sweden on 12th August 2009. Currently Hyypiä ranks as second among all-time most capped Finnish players, with total of 105 matches. Hyypiä became the present captain of the Finnish national team in 2008, succeeding former captain Jari Litmanen.

Retirement from football

In May 2011 Hyypiä confirmed during press conference that the 2010-11 season will be his last in professional football. Shortly after making his retirement public Hyypiä told becoming part of coaching staff for both Finnish national team and Bayer Leverkusen.

International goals

Finland's score first.

#DateLocationOpponentScoreResultCompetition

1.	9 October 1999	Helsinki	Northern Ireland	4–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2.	12 October 2002	Helsinki	Azerbaijan	3–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
3.	2 February 2003	Belfast	Northern Ireland	1–0	Win	Friendly
4.	7 June 2003	Helsinki	Serbia and Montenegro	3–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
5.	11 October 2006	Almaty	Kazakhstan	2–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Career statistics As of 26 September 2010Club performanceLeagueCupLeague CupContinentalTotalSeasonClubLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFinlandLeagueFinnish CupFinnish League CupEuropeTotalNetherlandsLeagueKNVB CupLeague CupEuropeTotalEnglandLeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropeTotalGermanyLeagueDFB-PokalPremiere LigapokalEuropeTotalTotalFinlandNetherlandsEnglandGermanyCareer total55436393193107872350

[33]

Finland national teamYearAppsGoalsTotal1055

Career honours MyPa

 Winner:

• Finnish Cup: (2) 1992, 1995

Runner-up:

• Veikkausliiga: 1993, 1994, 1995

  Willem II Tilburg

 Runner-up

• Eredivisie: 1999

  Liverpool

 Winner:

• FA Cup: (2) 2001, 2006
• Football League Cup: (2) 2001, 2003
• FA Community Shield: (2) 2001, 2006
• UEFA Cup: (1) 2001
• UEFA Champions League: (1) 2005
• UEFA Super Cup: (2) 2001, 2005

Runner-up:

• FA Premier League: 2001-02, 2008-09
• FA Community Shield: 2002
• FIFA Club World Championship: 2005
• Football League Cup: 2005
• UEFA Champions League: 2007

  Bayer 04 Leverkusen

 Runner-up

• Fußball-Bundesliga: 2010-2011

Personal awards

• Finnish Sports' Journalists Player of the Year: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006,[34] 2009,[35] 2010[36]
• Finnish Football Association Player of the Year: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009,[34] 2010[37]
• Finnish Sportsperson of the Year: 2001[38]
• UEFA Team of the Year selection: 2001[39]
• Premier League Player of the Month: November 1999[40]
• Goal.com Central Defender of the Decade: December 2009[41]
• Goal.com Team of the Decade selection: December 2009[41]
• Soccer Aid Winner – 2010