Sami Hyuyapa is a legendary Finnish football player who is second only to Jonathan Johansson and Jari Litmanen in the number of matches for the national team. But at the club level, the central defender achieved good results: he managed to play in different championships, and after completing his career he became a coach almost immediately. What career path did Sami Hyyupya take? Which clubs did he play and which ones did he coach?
Career start in Finland
Sami Hyyupya began his football career at an early age. At the age of four, he ended up at the academy of the local Kumu club, where he studied everything that he could eventually show on the football field. For eleven years, Sami was in the structure of this club, until in 1989 he moved to the PaPe club at the age of 16. There he was able to play in three matches for the main team, before in 1990 he did not go back to Kuma. There, for two years he played in 19 matches, and in January 1992, when he was 18 years old, Sami Hyuyapa signed a professional contract with the club "MuPa".
It was in this team that he received game practice before moving to a more prestigious European club. For three years, as part of the Finnish club, the central defender played in 96 matches and even scored eight goals. With his performances, he naturally attracted the attention of other clubs. In 1995, the athlete became a player in the Dutch club Willem II, in which he stayed for a long time.
Relocation to Holland
In Holland, the 22-year-old defender quickly took root, settled down and began to play in the first team. In just four years at the club, he played in 100 matches, scoring three goals. However, if you think that Hyupia Sami found his home in Willem, you are mistaken. The fact is that he did not stop there.
In 1999, a 26-year-old player received an invitation from Liverpool. The club paid the Dutch four and a half million euros of compensation, after which Hyyupiya Sami became a full-fledged player of the Merseysiders.
Career at Liverpool
From the very first season, Samy Hyyupya became a base player in an English club. In total, he spent there as many as ten years. These were incredible years, during which he won many trophies. Four FA Cups, two League Cups, one UEFA Cup and one prestigious trophy in the football world of the Champions League.
Finn performances in “Liverpool” are impressive, since he spent a huge number of matches. To date, everyone knows who Sami Hyuya is. The statistics for the English club are amazing: 464 matches and 35 goals in ten years. Only in 2009, the 36-year-old player left the club, which became his hometown, as he was ready to play a couple of years, but Liverpool could not give him a place at the base.
Retirement at Bayer
It would seem that the player’s age was already impressive, but he managed to play two more seasons at the highest level in Leverkusen “Bayer”. The statistics of goals and matches of Sami Hüyäpä were replenished even more: the Finn in the German club spent another 53 games, scoring 3 goals. And only in 2011, at the age of 38, the player announced the completion of his football career.
Team appearances
Sami made his debut for the Finnish national team in 1992 at the age of 19, when he was released on the field right in the match against the French national team. Unfortunately, throughout his incredibly long career, Hyuyapa was unable to participate in any of the major tournaments, since the overall level of the team was extremely low. But he managed, as mentioned above, to play one hundred and five matches and score five goals. He played his last game in October 2010 against the Hungarian national team. After that, he officially announced that he was completing a career in the national team.
Coaching career
Immediately after the player’s career ended, Sami got the position of assistant coach in the Finnish national team, where he stayed until March 2012, when he, together with Sasha Lewandowski, headed Bayer. Then he did not have an official coaching license, so he was considered an assistant until in July 2013 he was appointed a full-fledged coach after receiving the necessary qualifications.
A year later, Sami headed the English club Brighton and Hove Albion, at the helm of which he spent six months. And in August 2015, Hyuypya was appointed coach of the Swiss “Zurich”, where he was fired for three rounds before the end of the season, as his club was in last place. At the moment, the Finn is unemployed and is looking for options to pursue a career.