Clubs: HJK Helsinki, Valerenga, Crystal Palace, Kaiserslautern
International honours: Finland
Caps won at Palace: 36
Aki Riihilahti signed for Palace just a day before he scored for Finland against England in a World Cup qualifier at Anfield in March 2001, so Eagles fans knew that the club were obtaining a useful performer.
He quickly established a bond between himself and Palace supporters with his whole-hearted, energetic, long-striding style in midfield and he netted a valuable goal for Palace in the crucial penultimate game of 2000/01 at Portsmouth. Unfortunately Aki was troubled by injuries in 2002/03 when Palace certainly missed the experience and ability of this flamboyant personality, but he was a dominant, invaluable member of Iain Dowie's resurgent squad that gained promotion back to the Premiership by winning the play-offs in 2003/04.
The 2004/05 season was another fantastic one for Aki with the highlight, undoubtedly, being his equalising goal against Arsenal in front of a packed Selhurst Park. During the mext season Aki continues to be a key member of both the Palace and Finland squads and he holds the record of international appearances for an Eagles player, having appeared 33 times for his country whilst wearing red and blue. At the end of 2006/07 Aki chose to leave for pastures new and he now plays for German side Kaiserslautern.
Statistics
|
|
Games |
Goals |
|
2000/2001 |
9 |
1 |
|
2001/2002 |
49 |
6 |
|
2002/2003 |
30 |
1 |
|
2003/2004 |
38 |
0 |
|
2004/2005 |
32 |
4 |
|
2005/2006 |
20 |
2 |
|
Total |
178 |
14 |
Source: The Men Who Made Crystal Palace, Rev. Nigel Sands (Tempus 2004)
