Teemu Tainio

Teemu Tainio
Tainio playing for the New York Red Bulls in 2011
Personal information
Full name Teemu Mikael Tainio[1]
Date of birth (1979-11-27) 27 November 1979 (age 45)[2]
Place of birth Tornio, Finland
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder[4]
Team information
Current team
Tallinna Kalev (manager)
Youth career
1994–1995 TP-47
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 Haka 46 (14)
1997–2005 Auxerre 150 (14)
2005–2008 Tottenham Hotspur 61 (3)
2008–2010 Sunderland 21 (0)
2009–2010Birmingham City (loan) 6 (0)
2010–2011 Ajax 2 (0)
2011–2012 New York Red Bulls 42 (0)
2013–2014 HJK 36 (3)
Total 364 (34)
International career
1998–2014 Finland 64 (6)
Managerial career
2017 Klubi 04 (assistant)
2018 Haka (assistant)
2019–2023 Haka
2023–2024 AEL Limassol (assistant)
2024 Tallinna Kalev (assistant)
2024– Finland (assistant)
2024– Tallinna Kalev
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Teemu Mikael Tainio (born 27 November 1979) is a Finnish football coach and former player. He is the head coach of Tallinna Kalev and an assistant coach of the Finland national football team.

Tainio began his career with his local club, TP-47, before moving to FC Haka in 1996. A year later, he moved to France to play for Auxerre. After eight years there, he joined English club Tottenham Hotspur, where he spent three years before joining Sunderland. After a loan spell with Birmingham City during the 2009–10 season, he moved to Dutch club Ajax, before joining the New York Red Bulls in 2011. After two seasons in the United States, he returned to Finland to finish his career with HJK.

He mostly played in a variety of midfield positions during his career, and also at right-back under Juande Ramos at Tottenham.

  1. ^ "WK 2006 Kwalificatie" [2006 World Cup Qualification] (in Dutch). Royal Dutch Football Association. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Teemu Tainio: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Teemu Tainio: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Teemu Tainio". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 December 2020.