Joonas Kolkka

Joonas Einari Kolkka (born 28 September 1974) is a Finnish retired professional footballer who played as a left winger most of his career, but could also play on the right wing. Having started his career in his native Finland, he went on to play for several clubs in the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, England, and the USA.

Joonas Kolkka
Personal information
Full name Joonas Einari Kolkka
Date of birth (1974-09-28) 28 September 1974
Place of birth Lahti, Finland
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
Reipas Lahti
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Reipas Lahti 34 (19)
1993–1995 MyPa 43 (17)
1996–1998 Willem II 68 (16)
1998–2001 PSV 78 (10)
2001–2003 Panathinaikos 45 (3)
2003–2004 Borussia M'gladbach 28 (2)
2004–2005 Crystal Palace 26 (3)
2005–2006 ADO Den Haag 31 (8)
2006–2007 Feyenoord 22 (3)
2007–2011 NAC Breda 113 (8)
2011–2012 Willem II 13 (1)
2012 Texas Dutch Lions 15 (2)
Total 516 (92)
International career
1994–2010[1] Finland 98 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Lahti, Kolkka started his career with Reipas Lahti and MyPa in Finland's Veikkausliiga. He won the Finnish Cup with MyPa in 1995 before joining Netherlands' Willem II the same year. In 1998 Kolkka joined Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on a four-year contract.[2] At PSV he won two league championships and got to play in the UEFA Champions League. Kolkka then moved to Greek side Panathinaikos in 2001, and he spent two seasons there. After leaving Greece, Kolkka played a season each for Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga and Crystal Palace of the English Premiership. He scored at both Anfield[3] and Old Trafford[4] during his stay at the club, and also scored in the thrilling 3–3 draw with Norwich.[5] He was released by Palace, and returned to the Netherlands in 2005, signing a one-year deal with ADO Den Haag. After an impressive season with ADO, he was signed by Dutch side Feyenoord in the summer of 2006, and played until summer 2011 for NAC Breda. In 2011, he was signed by his former club, Willem II, being employed as a player and a sales manager of the club.

On 4 May 2012, it was announced that Kolkka had signed a three-month-contract with Texas Dutch Lions, in the third level of American football (not Dayton Dutch Lions). After his contract with the Dutch Lions expired, Kolkka returned to the Netherlands, working as a youth coach for his former club PSV.

International career

Kolkka made his debut for the Finland national team on 26 October 1994 against Estonia, and was a regular in the Finland lineup until 2010.

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[6]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 199421
199521
199651
199720
199871
199972
200060
200162
200271
200392
200490
200540
200680
200790
200870
200970
201010
Total9811
Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kolkka goal.[7]
List of international goals scored by Joonas Kolkka
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
126 October 1994Tallinn, Estonia Estonia7–0Friendly
216 February 1995Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago2–2Friendly
36 October 1996Helsinki, Finland  Switzerland2–31998 FIFA World Cup qualification
45 September 1998Helsinki, Finland Moldova3–2UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
59 October 1999Helsinki, Finland Northern Ireland4–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
6
715 August 2001Helsinki, Finland Belgium4–1Friendly
85 September 2001Helsinki, Finland Greece5–12002 FIFA World Cup qualification
927 March 2002Porto, Portugal Portugal4–1Friendly
107 June 2003Helsinki, Finland Serbia and Montenegro3–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
1111 October 2003Tampere, Finland Canada3–2Friendly

Honours

MyPa

PSV

Finland

References
  1. "Joonas Kolkka - International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  2. Damström, Annika (16 February 1998). "Joonas Kolkan uudeksi seuraksi PSV Eindhoven" [The new company of Joonas Kolka is PSV Eindhoven]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  3. "Liverpool 3–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  4. "Man Utd 5–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 18 December 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  5. "Crystal Palace 3–3 Norwich". BBC. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  6. "Kolkka Joonas" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  7. "Kolkka Joonas" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto (Football Association of Finland). Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  8. "Finland-Norway|Line-ups|". Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  9. "Tournament table". Retrieved 6 December 2020.
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