John Klebér Saarenpää (born 14 December 1975) is a Swedish football manager and former player who was most recently in charge of Superettan club Helsingborgs IF. A defender, he played for IK Sirius, Djurgårdens IF, IFK Norrköping, AaB, Hammarby IF, and Vejle during a career that spanned between 1992 and 2008. A full international between 2000 and 2001, he won 11 caps for the Sweden national team.
Club career Saarenpää was born in Uppsala to a Guinean mother and a Finnish father, and he started his career in local team Stäppens IF.
Saarenpää represented Djurgårdens IF, IFK Norrköping, Hammarby IF and AaB (in Denmark). He made a contract with the Danish club Vejle Boldklub from 1 January 2007. On 10 March 2007, he debuted as captain for Vejle Boldklub and scored two goals. His contract with Vejle Boldklub only ran until 30 June 2007 and Saarenpää has therefore played his last match for the club. After that he returned to his old club Hammarby IF and signed a two-year contract with the Stockholm based club. He ended his career after the 2008 season.
International career Internationally, Saarenpää represented the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams a total of 30 times before making his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 31 January 2000 in a friendly game against Denmark. He made his competitive debut for Sweden in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, in which he played in all 90 minutes as Sweden won 2–0. He appeared in four more qualifying games for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but missed the final tournament because of an injury. He won a total of 11 caps between 2000 and 2001.
Coaching career In January 2014 Saarenpää signed a 2.5-year contract with Vejle Boldklub as an Assistant Manager. In October of the same year he was promoted to Manager of Vejle Boldklub after the former Manager Tonny Hermansen withdrew from the position. He was sacked on 23 April 2016.
Personal life Saarenpää also has Finnish citizenship.
Career statistics
International +Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSweden200020200190Total110
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamNatFromToRecordSyrianska21 March 201231 December 2013Vejle BK20 October 201424 April 2016Syrianska1 August 201631 December 2016IK Brage1 January 201811 November 2023Helsingborgs IF1 January 2024PresentTotal
References
External links Vejle Boldklub profile AaB profile