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Mikael Forssell Profile |
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Birth Date: March 15, 1981
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Birth Place: Steinfurt, Germany
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Birth Name: Mikael Forssell
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Height: 6'1"
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Biography |
Mikael Kaj Forssell (born March 15, 1981 in Steinfurt,
Germany) is a Finnish footballer who currently plays for
Birmingham City who are in England's FA Premier League.
Considered one of the most talented Finnish footballers of
all time, Forssell made his Veikkausliiga debut for HJK at
the age of just 16. His goal-scoring form for Finland's
youth teams made him a target for a host of Europe's top
clubs, and in 1998 the 17-year-old striker was snapped up by
English Premiership club Chelsea.
But despite scoring twice in one of his earliest appearances
for the club, Forssell found it hard to find a place in the
Chelsea first team, and he was sent out to various loan
spells, twice to Crystal Palace of the then First Division,
once to Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga
and twice to Birmingham of the Premiership. Forssell scored
seven Bundesliga goals for Mönchengladbach in the spring of
2003 and then 17 Premiership goals for Birmingham in 2003-04
season. He returned to Birmigham on loan for the 2004-05
season, but suffered the second serious knee injury of his
career, which ruined his season.
In the summer of 2005 Forssell joined Birmingham on a
three-year deal for a fee of £3 million, after Chelsea
decided that he did not figure in their long term plans. He
struggled in the 2005-06 season, not having found his best
form after his injury, and couldn't save Birmingham from
relegation.
Forssell has been a regular for the Finnish national team
for most of the 2000s. He played his first match for Finland
on June 9, 1999 against Moldova, and scored his first goal
on February 28, 2001 against Luxembourg. His partnership
with Jari Litmanen has worked especially well. Finland has
suffered greatly from Forssell's injury problems, as he had
to watch much of qualifying campaigns for both Euro 2004 and
the 2006 World Cup from the sidelines. Forssell also played
for Finland in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Mikael suffered another cruel injury blow during training in
October 2006, leaving him on the sidelines until at least
January 2007.
He returned to training in February 2007 after undergoing
operations on both knees.He was set to pass a medical at
Hamburg but was reported that he failed. |
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Other Information |
Professional football player, currently playing for
Birmingham City FC in English Premier League.
Debuted in Finnish football league at age of 16 and about
two years later the talented striker made his first
appearence in Finnish national team and joined the ranks of
Chelsea FC in England. |
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