Teemu Tainio

Teemu Tainio is a Finnish footballer currently playing as a midfielder for HJK Helsinki. He was born on 27 November 1979 in Tornio, Finland.

Teemu began his football grooming at a hometown club TP-47 competing in the third division. He made his professional debut with FC Haka in 1996. However, his career really took up steam at a French side Auxerre where Tainio played for eight years. During his stay at the club, a promising player gained extensive UEFA Champions League experience and helped Auxerre to win Coupe de France twice. Overall, he played 204 official games and scored 19 goals for the French side.

In 2005, Tainio moved to the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur where he cemented his place as a starter already in the first season with the club. The Finnish player soon proved his worth in the starting lineup aiding the Spurs to become the League Cup champions in the 2007/08 season.

In 2008, Tainio joined fellow English club Sunderland and became the first Finnish player in the club’s history. Having played 21 league matches in the first season with the team, he was loaned to Birmingham City. In 2010, Tainio enjoyed a meteoric rise signing for the Dutch top club Ajax. However, he appeared only in 5 matches, one of them being a 0-2 loss to Real Madrid in the 2010/11 Champions League. In March 2011, Tainio joined American New York Red Bulls. He got off to a flying start with the club as he assisted on Juan Agudelo’s game-winning goal in the 2011 MLS campaign opener against Seattle Sounders FC.

In 2013 Teemu moved back to Finland and joined HJK Helsinki club.

Teemu Tainio was a regular Finnish international in between 1998 and 2010. For this time he made 52 appearances for the national team scoring 6 goals.