Daniel Sjölund

Daniel Sjölund
Sjölund with Finland in 2010
Personal information
Full name Henrik Daniel Sjölund
Date of birth (1983-04-22) 22 April 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Finström, Åland, Finland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
IFK Mariehamn (assistant)
Youth career
0000–1998 IF Finströms Kamraterna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 IFK Mariehamn 27 (11)
1999 IF Brommapojkarna 9 (0)
1999–2000 West Ham United 0 (0)
2000–2003 Liverpool 0 (0)
2003Djurgårdens IF (loan) 19 (3)
2004–2012 Djurgårdens IF 186 (24)
2013–2014 Åtvidabergs FF 51 (6)
2015–2018 IFK Norrköping 88 (6)
2019 IFK Mariehamn 23 (0)
2020–2021 FC Åland 10 (2)
Total 380 (41)
International career
Finland U21 18 (5)
2003–2012 Finland 37 (2)
Managerial career
2021–2023 FC Åland
2023– IFK Mariehamn (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Henrik Daniel "Daja" Sjölund (born 22 April 1983) is a Finnish football coach and a former footballer who played as a midfielder. Sjölund is currently working as an assistant coach of Veikkausliiga club IFK Mariehamn. He is best remembered for his stints with Djurgårdens IF and IFK Norrköping. He won 37 caps for the Finland national team.

Career

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Sjölund playing for Djurgården in 2011.

Daniel Sjölund was born in the municipality of Finström, based in Åland which is a Swedish-speaking autonomous region that belongs to Finland. Sjölund started his career at IF Finströms Kamraterna, when he was a child.[2] Afterwards he went to IFK Mariehamn[3] and IF Brommapojkarna,[3] before being signed by West Ham at the age of just 16, after impressive displays for Finland's youth teams. In 2000 Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier agreed to pay £1 million for the talented forward[4] in a deal that also saw Rigobert Song going the other way.[5] After failing to get into the first team at Liverpool, Sjölund joined Djurgården for the 2003 season, first on loan[6] and later on a permanent deal.[7] He has won two Swedish championships and two Swedish Cups with Djurgården. The 2005 season finally saw Sjölund become a regular in the Djurgården team, and he scored seven goals in the league.[2]

A regular for the Under-21s since the age of 17, Sjölund made his senior international debut for the Finnish national team on 22 May 2003 against Norway.[8] Good performances in the 2005 season have seen him promoted to the senior team on a regular basis. Sjölund was also a part of the Finland squad at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

In September 2012 Sjölund played his 200th league game for Djurgården wearing a number 200 shirt.[9] But only a couple of months later the club announced that they would not be extending his contract.[10]

Sjölund signed with Åtvidabergs FF on 4 February 2013 and stayed with the club for two seasons.[11] He signed a pre-contract with local rivals IFK Norrköping during the 2014 season, and joined the squad for the 2015 season.[12]

Sjölund re-signed with IFK Mariehamn for the 2019 season.[13] In mid October, it was announced that Sjölund had retired from football.[14]

Sjölund returned to playing after less than a year of retirement, this time with Finnish fourth-tier club FC Åland.[15]

Coaching career

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In November 2021 Sjölund announced that he had signed a three-year contract to manage FC Åland.[16] In September 2023, he was appointed as the assistant coach of Veikkausliiga club IFK Mariehamn for the rest of the 2023 season.[17] After the season, his contract was extended for two more years for same position.[18]

Personal information

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His sister Annica Sjölund is also a Finnish international who competed in Women's Euro 2009.

Career statistics

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As of 26 September 2019
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
IFK Mariehamn 1998 Kakkonen 18 4 18 4
1999 9 7 9 7
Total 27 11 0 0 27 11
Brommapojkarna 1999 Division 1 Norra 9 0 9 0
Total 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
West Ham 1999–00 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000–01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Liverpool 2000–01 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001–02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002–03 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Djurgården 2003 Allsvenskan 19 3 3 1 1 0 23 4
2004 17 1 4 3 2 0 3 0 26 4
2005 22 7 6 6 2 0 6 1 36 14
2006 26 2 3 0 2 0 1 0 32 2
2007 23 5 1 0 24 5
2008 10 1 0 0 3 0 13 1
2009 19 3 0 0 0 0 19 3
2010 14 0 0 0 14 0
2011 28 2 2 1 30 3
2012 27 3 1 0 28 3
Total 205 27 20 11 10 0 10 1 245 39
Åtvidaberg 2013 Allsvenskan 28 6 4 1 32 7
2014 23 0 3 1 26 1
Total 51 6 7 2 0 0 0 0 58 8
IFK Norrköping 2015 Allsvenskan 28 2 5 0 33 2
2016 27 2 5 0 2 0 34 2
2017 25 1 4 0 3 0 32 1
2018 8 1 0 0 8 1
Total 84 6 14 0 5 0 0 0 103 6
IFK Mariehamn 2019 Veikkausliiga 17 0 2 0 19 0
FC Åland 2020 Kolmonen 3 1 0 0 3 1
2021 7 1 0 0 3 0 10 1
Total 10 2 0 0 3 0 13 2
Career total 380 41 43 13 0 0 15 0 13 1 451 55

International goals

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As of 17 October 2010

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Reports
1. 12 November 2005 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki  Estonia 1–0 2–2 Friendly match [1]
2. 10 September 2008 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki  Germany 3–2 3–3 FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying [2]

International

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As of 14 November 2012
Finland national team
Year Apps Goals
2003 2 0
2004 2 0
2005 4 1
2006 1 0
2007 6 0
2008 3 1
2009 4 0
2010 4 0
2011 5 0
2012 6 0
Total 37 2

Honours

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Djurgårdens IF

IFK Norrköping

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Daniel Sjölund". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 2 May 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Daniel Sjölund". svenskfotboll.se. Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  3. ^ a b Thomas Jonsson (7 October 2009). "Daja bästa IFK-are genom tiderna". alandstidningen.ax (in Swedish). Ålandstidningen. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Daniel Sjolund". soccerbase.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Rigobert Song". soccerbase.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  6. ^ Johanna Lundeberg (15 January 2003). "Vänsterfoten är Sjölunds vapen". dif.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Daniel Sjölund kvar i Djurgården". dif.se. Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 15 November 2003. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Daniel Sjölund". palloliitto.fi (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Archived from the original on 22 June 2003. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Sjölunds jublimeum blev ingen succé". dif.se (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Daniel Sjölund och DIF går skilda vägar". dif.fi (in Finnish). Djurgårdens IF. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Daniel Sjölund nästa nyförvärv" (in Swedish). 4 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  12. ^ "IFK Norrköping värvar från ÅFF". Norrköpings Tidningar (in Swedish). 21 July 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  13. ^ Avtalet mellan Grönvitt och Daja undertecknat Archived 18 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, ifkfotboll.ax
  14. ^ Daniel Sjölund lägger skorna på hyllan, hbl.fi, 16 October 2019
  15. ^ Sjölund gör oväntad comeback: "Förstärkning för slutspurten", fotbollskanalen.se
  16. ^ ”Daja” ny tränare för FC Åland, Ålands Radio
  17. ^ IFK Mariehamn vahvistaa valmennustaan – Daniel Sjölund kakkosluotsiksi loppukaudeksi, Veikkausliiga, 7 September 2023
  18. ^ En pusselbit klar i IFK Mariehamns tränarteam – Daniel Sjölund fortsätter i klubben: ”Får bra kontinuitet”, Svenskan Yle, 4 December 2023
  19. ^ "Stats" (PDF). difarkivet.se. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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