Otso Liimatta

Otso Liimatta (born 10 July 2004) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Famalicão and the Finland under-21 national team.

Otso Liimatta
Personal information
Date of birth (2004-07-10) 10 July 2004
Place of birth Oulu, Finland[1]
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder[1]
Team information
Current team
 Famalicão
Number 18
Youth career
0000–2020 Tervarit
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 OLS 18 (3)
2021–2023 AC Oulu 53 (9)
2023– Famalicão 6 (0)
International career‡
2019 Finland U15 2 (0)
2019 Finland U16 2 (1)
2021–2022 Finland U18 6 (1)
2022 Finland U19 6 (1)
2023– Finland U21 8 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

Club career

AC Oulu

Born in Oulu, Liimatta played in the youth sector of Tervarit before signing his first professional contract with AC Oulu in September 2020.[2][3]

He made his Veikkausliiga debut on 28 May 2021, aged 16, in a 3–1 away loss to HJK: in the process, he assisted his side's only goal.[4] He scored his first Veikkausliiga goal on 29 April 2022, the opener in a 3–0 home win against Haka.[5]

In the summer of 2022, various Finnish media outlets reported that Liimatta had attracted interest by several high-profile European clubs.[6][7] At the end of the 2022 season, Liimatta was named the Best Young Player of the Year at the Captain's Ball awards held by the Finnish FA.[8][9][10]

Famalicão

On 29 July 2023, Liimatta officially joined Primeira Liga side Famalicão for an undisclosed fee,[11][12][13] signing a four-year deal with the Portuguese club.[12][14] According to the media, the fee was in six figures and is believed to be close to €600,000.[15]

He made his debut for the Fama on 11 August 2023, starting in the opening league game of the season against Braga, which ended in a 1–2 win for his team.[16][17]

International career

Youth

Liimatta has represented Finland at various youth levels.

On 7 March 2023, he got his first call-up to the Finland under-21 national team for two friendly matches against North Macedonia and Bulgaria.[18] He scored his first U21 goal in the latter match, on 28 March 2023, taking part in a 0–2 win over Bulgaria.[10][19]

Liimatta scored a hat-trick against Albania U21 on 13 October 2023 in a 2025 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying match, which ended in 4–1 victory for Finland.[20]

Career statistics
As of 8 October 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
OLS 2020 Kakkonen 10002[lower-alpha 2]2—32
2021 17300——173
Total 183002200205
AC Oulu 2021 Veikkausliiga 9000——90
2022 2853100—316
2023 164337[lower-alpha 3]1—268
Total 5396471006614
Famalicão 2023–24 Primeira Liga 6000——60
Career total 77126493009219
  1. Includes Suomen Cup
  2. Appearances in Kakkonen Cup
  3. Appearances in Finnish League Cup

Honours

AC Oulu

Individual

References
  1. Otso Liimatta at WorldFootball.net
  2. Nevala, Kai (22 November 2021). "17-vuotias oululainen Otso Liimata on hionut taitonsa kotipihallaan Kar-jasillalla - Juniori murtautui syksyllä AC Oulun liigajoukkueeseen" (in Finnish). Kaleva. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  3. Nevala, Kai (18 September 2022). "Otso Liimata, 18, on noussut raketin lailla yhdeksi AC Oulun tärkeimmistä pelaajista – Miksi kevytrakenteinen juniori on pystynyt pelaamaan erinomaisen liigakauden?" (in Finnish). Kaleva. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  4. "HJK Helsinki - AC Oulu 3:1 (Veikkausliiga 2021, 2. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  5. "OULU VS. HAKA 3 - 0)". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. "Veikkausliigan timantti herättää kiinnostusta ulkomaalaisseuroissa - italialaisjätti mukana kuvioissa" (in Finnish). MTV Uutiset. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  7. Teksti, Joel Perovuo (10 August 2022). "Huippulupaus Otso Liimatta kasvaa korkeaa korkoa portugalilaisen kultasormen tehtaassa" (in Finnish). elmotv.com. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  8. "Captain's Ball 2022 palkitut" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. "Henkilökuvassa viime kauden nuori sensaatio Otso Liimatta" (in Finnish). pallotv.fi. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  10. "Otso Liimatta: Olen asettanut tulevalle kaudelle entistä kovemmat tavoitteet" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  11. "AC Oulun Otso Liimatta Portugaliin" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  12. "Otso Liimatta assina por quatro temporadas" (in European Portuguese). FC Famalicão. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  13. Halonen, Mika (29 July 2023). "Jalkapallon suomalainen superlupaus Otso Liimatta, 19, Portugalin pääsarjaan – AC Oulu "tyytyväinen" siirtokorvaukseen". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. "Oficial: Contratada promessa do futebol finlandês (Famalicão)". A Bola (in European Portuguese). 29 July 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  15. "Suomalaislupaus teki harvinaisen valinnan - ratkaisu syntyi Googlen avulla" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  16. Savonen, Ilari (11 August 2023). "Huippulupaus Otso Liimatta, 19, heti avauksessa Portugalin liigassa". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  17. "Sp. Braga x Famalicão - Record Jogos em Direto". Record.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  18. "Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty maaliskuun maaotteluihin" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  19. "Tulospalvelu" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  20. Finland vs Albania, 13 October 2023, UEFA
  21. "Otso Liimatta". flashscore.
  22. "Tables - Ykkönen". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  23. "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat kauden parhaiksi". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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