Lahti is a small Finnish city situated about 100 km from the capital Helsinki. It’s also the birthplace of Finland’s greatest ever footballer, and arguably greatest living sportsman, Jari Litmanen.
It is in Lahti where we begin the story of Jari’s incredible football journey. Torn between his love for ice hockey and football, Jari made his debut at the tender age of 16 in the Finnish top flight for Reipas. A move to top side HJK soon followed and it was at his next club MyPa where he was spotted by Ajax scout Tom Ponk playing in the 1992 Finnish cup final in which Litmanen scored to help his team to the trophy. He had also made his senior international debut in October of 1989.
Trials at Leeds, PSV and even the mighty Barcelona had surprisingly not led to a contract offer, however the Ajax coaching staff saw his potential and he joined the Amsterdam side for the 92/93 season. Most of his appearances were for the reserves that season as Ajax had a fellow by the name of Denis Bergkamp occupying their No.10 shirt. However with the latter’s move to Internazionale imminent in addition to an injury to his intended successor, Dan Peterson, this meant that Louis Van Gaal would give the young Finn his opportunity to prove himself to the Ajax faithful. Jari didn’t waste time making a name for himself.
Marco Van Basten, Johan Cruyff, Denis Bergkamp, Frank Rijkaard, Johan Neeskens, Ronald Koeman, Danny Blind, Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars, Clarence Seedorf, Ronald and Frank De Boer. Ajax history is filled with legendary names in the world of football. For many, the name Litmanen is now as synonymous with the club as any of the aforementioned superstars. Jari Litmanen, first nicknamed the Professor by his colleagues for his incredible knowledge of the game, burst onto the European footballing stage in the 93/94 season scoring an incredible 26 goals from a deep lying attacking position which earned his team the Eredivisie title and personally the title of Dutch Footballer of the year aswell as the Golden Boot. Ajax, long before Arsenal managed it, went unbeaten throughout their league campaign, winning the league in style from Roda JC with Ronaldo’s PSV in 3rd.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RFLdz2kDcM0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/RFLdz2kDcM0</a>]]> Ajax fans reintroduced their song ‘Volare’ changing it to “Litmanen, oh ooh, Litmanen, ohohooh”. Jari also collected the Finnish player of the year award. His third season at Ajax would be another history making one. Ajax regained their league title with Jari the focal point of a team who were playing arguably the best football in Europe at the time with mercurial talent in abundance in the form of Kluivert, Van Der Sar, Kanu, George, Reiziger, Overmars, etc. Ajax reached the European Cup final against the mighty Milan in Vienna. Jari played almost 70 mins before being subbed for eventual match winner Patrick Kluivert who netted a famous 85th minute winner.
Now a lynchpin of the Ajax side, Jari helped his beloved red and white clinch a third consecutive title in the 1995/96 season. However defending their European Cup title was just one step too far for this great side as they went down to Juventus on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Jari had equalised before half time and he also coolly slotted away his penalty in the shoot out but Sonny’s miss meant that Old Big Ears joined the Old Lady back in Turin.
Even the allure of massive offers from many of Europe’s biggest sides was not enough to sway Jari away from his beloved Amsterdam despite seeing his teammates make headline making transfers. Davids, Kluivert, Kanu and Reiziger amongst others had left and this had an immediate effect on the team’s fortunes as they relinquished their Eredivisie title to PSV and finished a disappointing fourth that season. Jari was quoted as saying ““The atmosphere at Ajax is more important than the money in Italy”. “I don’t think I’ll ever have a better life somewhere else than at Ajax, so I’m staying. I owe everything to Ajax, this is my way of letting them know”. This of course made him an even bigger hero amongst the fans. Jari stayed with Ajax until 1999 when he made an emotional farewell before joining Barcelona. Seven seasons in Holland had resulted in Jari scoring 91 goals in just 159 league games. A Bosman transfer to the Nou Camp where he once again joined forces with Van Gaal was the next step in the great Finn’s career.
Nou Camp regulars only got to see fleeting glimpses of Jari’s brilliance as injuries began to take their toll and he was restricted to just 21 appearances. Van Gaal’s dismissal and the arrival of Llorenç Serra Ferrer meant that the curtain closed on Litmanen’s Barca career before it had even begun.
Jari, oh Jari Jari, oh Jari Jari Jari Jari Litmanen - hey!As he had dreamt of as a boy watching his heroes Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish terrorise defences week in week out, Jari’s chance to pull on a Red shirt and run out in front of a packed Kop had arrived. Gerard Houllier was ready to throw Jari a career lifeline and bring him to the Premier League. Jari didn’t have to be asked twice. Didi Hamann certainly appreciated the time he spent with Litmanen at Liverpool. "I've never seen a player with such a good eye for the final forward next to him or his team-mates. He never missed a pass, his vision was just unbelievable. He wasn't the quickest when he came to us but his performance on his debut at Aston Villa was one of the best I've ever seen in a Liverpool shirt." Tragically for Reds fans (myself very definitely included) Jari was frustratingly under-used by Houllier and assistant Phil Thompson. Despite suffering further niggling injuries, when Jari did play he made an impact but often found himself back on the bench a game later much to the frustration of the Kop. He cruelly missed the three finals during the 2000/01 treble winning season due to injury, but he did play an important part along the way He was also an important player during the 2001/02 Champions League campaign. With Owen also suffering with injury during the season Jari stepped up to score some important goals. Just days after an incredible goal from thirty yards against Tottenham Hotspur, he scored a cheeky goal against Dynamo Kiev in our Champions League group match. He then scored an important penalty against Roma in the crucial final group game at Anfield. This was the game where Houllier made his return after his heart operation and inspired the Reds to the 2-0 victory they required to reach the quarter finals. Jari then scored an outstanding individual goal in the quarter final second leg against Bayer Leverkusen. At this stage the goal was enough to send Liverpool through to the semi finals but the teams collapse after Didi Hamman was taken off led to a 4-2 defeat.
Anfield waved goodbye to Litmanen and he returned to Ajax just before the transfer deadline on August 30, 2002. After leading Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2002-03 season he once again bid farewell to the loyal Ajax faithful before returning to his native Finland when he joined FC Lahti on a free transfer in August 2004. Brief spells with Hansa Rostock in Germany and Malmö in Sweden followed, before, on the last day of the January 2008 transfer-window, Litmanen was unveiled as a Fulham player by Roy Hodgson but injury once again deprived him of another crack at the Premier League and Jari returned home to his native land once again.
Rarely, if ever do players of the calibre, class and humility of Jari Litmanen come along. Incredibly he played for his country in four different decades having made his debut, as aforementioned in 1989 and his final cap came in an emotional 8-0 win over San Marino in November 2010.
I shamelessly borrow this last bit of info from Wikipedia: On 24 September 2011 in the 2011 Finnish Cup final against KuPS, coming on to the field after 80 minutes of play, when the score was 0–0. During the second half of extra time, he scored a spectacular halfvolley to make it 1–0 for HJK on the 108th minute. They went on to win the match 2–1. This was Litmanen's first Finnish Cup final after he won it with MyPa in 1992. On 2 October 2011, HJK secured the 2011 Finnish championship and thus a double. As of that day, Litmanen had played 18 matches for HJK that season, and they had won every single match in which Litmanen had been on the field.
* All time leading Finland goalscorer and most capped player
* All time Ajax European top goalscorer
* European Cup Winner
* Ballon D'Or 3rd 1995
* Eredivisie top scorer 1994
* Dutch Footballer of the year 1993
* Treble winner with Liverpool 2001
Zlatan Ibrahimovic:" My real saviour at Ajax, the man who saved my career, was Jari Litmanen. He was so good and committed and experienced. We had three good strikers: Machlas, Mido and myself. And Jari took you by the hand, on the field. He talked, coached, guided and basically made you better on the pitch. He allowed others to play better.”
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JARI LITMANEN – My hero. Remember him.
