Walter Viitala
Walter Viitala (born 9 January 1992) is a Finnish footballer who plays as goalkeeper for SJK.[1]
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 9 January 1992 | |||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | |||||||||||||||
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | SJK | |||||||||||||||
Number | 24 | |||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
PPJ Eira | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
2010–2015 | FC Honka | 52 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2011 | → HIFK (loan) | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2012 | → Pallohonka | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2015–2016 | IFK Mariehamn | 41 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2017–2018 | Viborg FF | 20 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2018 | Malmö FF | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2019–2020 | Sandefjord | 13 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2020– | SJK | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||
2008 | Finland U-16 | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2009 | Finland U-17 | 10 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2011 | Finland U-19 | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2012 | Finland U-20 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2013 | Finland U-21 | 10 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2017– | Finland | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 July 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 January 2019 |
Club career
On 15 December 2016, Viitala signed a 2.5-year contract with Viborg FF on a free transfer from IFK Mariehamn. He made his debut in a 1–0 victory against AaB on 8 April 2017.
On 11 August 2018 Viitala signed for Swedish champions Malmö FF. He signed a short-term contract for the rest of the year to replace injured back-up goalkeeper Fredrik Andersson.[2][3] He made his first appearance for Malmö FF on 23 September 2018, when he replaced an injured Johan Dahlin at halftime in a 4–0 victory over Kalmar FF.[4] He made his first start a week later in a 0–0 draw against GIF Sundsvall.
International career
In November 2016, Viitala received his first call-up to the senior Finland squad for the match against Ukraine.[5] He made a debut on 9 January 2017 in a 1–0 win against Morocco in Al Ain.[6]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 October 2018.[7]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
HIFK (loan) | 2011 | Ykkönen | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
Pallohonka | 2012 | Kakkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
FC Honka | 2011 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
2012 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
2013 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | |||
2014 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
Total | 52 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 0 | ||
IFK Mariehamn | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
2016 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | |||
Total | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
Viborg FF | 2016–17 | Superliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | 1st Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
2018–19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
Malmö FF | 2018 | Allsvenskan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
Career total | 134 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 164 | 0 |
- Appearances in the Danish Superliga relegation play-offs
References
- "Walter Viitala siirtyy SJK:n riveihin Norjasta". sjk.fi. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- "Välkommen till Malmö FF, Walter Viitala!". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- Wiman, Max (11 August 2018). "Landslagsmålvakt till MFF – Fredrik Andersson ska opereras". sydsvenskan.se (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- Åkesson, Richard (23 September 2018). "Viitaladebut tack vare lagläkaren: "Ett perfekt läge"". sydsvenskan.se (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- "Viitala korvaa Mäenpään Huuhkajissa" [Viitala replaces Mäenpää in "Huuhkajat"]. palloliitto.fi. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- "Huuhkajat voitti vihdoin – Juhani Ojalan puskumaali yllätti Marokon". yle.fi (in Finnish). Yle. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- "W.Viitala". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- "IFK vann årets ligaguld" [IFK won this year's league gold]. ifkfotboll.ax (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.