Hannu Tihinen (born 1 July 1976) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Since January 2014, he worked as a technical director at the Football Association of Finland. In October 2022, Tihinen was appointed as an expert adviser of FIFA in Global Football Development Division High-Performance -unit.
He has played for clubs in Finland, Norway, England, Belgium and Switzerland. Tihinen achieved five championships in three countries in a career that ended in 2010, a cup title in two countries and captained almost all of his club teams.
Club career Born in Keminmaa, Lapland, Tihinen started his career with KePS in second-tier Ykkönen in 1993. After the 1996 season, the club was relegated to Kakkonen, and Tihinen joined Veikkausliiga club HJK for the 1997 season. He won both the Finnish championship and Finnish Cup once with HJK, and also earned UEFA Champions League experience with the club in the 1998–99 season.
Tihinen then joined Norwegian club Viking in November 1999. He scored a decisive own goal in the final of the Norwegian Cup in 2000 but won the Cup championship the following year and headed the goal into the right goal. Tihinen spent two and a half seasons with Viking, while also having a brief loan spell at West Ham United in the English Premiership. Whilst at West Ham, he played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2000–01 FA Cup, and was named the man of the match. After his loan deal ended, West Ham was willing to acquire Tihinen on a permanent contract for around £2 million, but Viking felt he was worth more and tried to raise the transfer fee to the point where the deal collapsed eventually, and Tihinen returned to Norway.
In 2002 Tihinen joined Belgian club Anderlecht for a €1.3 million transfer fee. He played in Belgium for four years, winning two Belgian championships. Tihinen scored the 1-0 winning goal against Lyon in the Champions League match in November 2003.
After Tihinen's contract with Anderlecht expired in the summer of 2006, he was snapped up by FC Zürich on a three-year deal. He was captain of the 2006–07 Swiss Championship and the 2008–09 Swiss Championship winning team. On 30 September 2009, Tihinen scored the winning goal for Zürich after ten minutes against A.C. Milan in the Group C game of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.
On 7 May 2010, Tihinen announced that he would retire after the 2009–10 season, mainly because of his head injuries. His last game was an away draw (3–3) against Neuchâtel Xamax on 16 May 2010.
International career Tihinen made his debut for the Finland national team on 5 June 1999 against Turkey. He scored five goals in the national team matches and formed Finland's regular central defensive pairing with Sami Hyypiä for most of the 2000s. Tihinen captained the national team in a match known as the eagle-owl match against Belgium in June 2007. In the match, an eagle-owl flew onto the field and the game was stopped for a while. The nickname Eagle-owls of the Finland national team originated from this event.
Helmet
Tihinen injured his head many times during his career. Because of that he wore a helmet during his last seasons. He was also very good with his head, which he used to score most of his goals.
Post-playing career After retiring, Tihinen joined FC Zürich as a deputy sports director.
On 13 April 2012, he announced his candidacy to run for the new president of the Football Association of Finland, as the post was left open after Sauli Niinistö was elected as President of Finland. In the years 2012–2014, Tihinen was the chairman of the Finnish Football Players´ Association.
After his career, Tihinen has studied international leadership and management at the UEFA Academy and at the Aalto University in Helsinki and since 2014, he has been the technical director of the Football Association of Finland. In October 2022, Tihinen was appointed as an expert adviser of FIFA in Global Football Development Division High-Performance -unit.Palloliiton urheilutoimenjohtaja Hannu Tihinen siirtyy FIFAn asiantuntijaksi – Urheilutoimenjohtajan tehtävä aukeaa avoimeen hakuun, Football Association of Finland, 11 October 2022Keminmaan kasvatti Hannu Tihinen nousi West Hamin avauskokoonpanoon Valioliigassa – Sitten hänen norjalainen seuransa alkoi ahnehtia, Kaleva, 13 October 2024
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionHannu Tihinen, worldfootballHannu Tihinen, Finnish FAClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsKePS1993Ykkönen——1994Ykkönen——1995Ykkönen——1996Ykkönen——Total7712——7712HJK1997Veikkausliiga2520020002721998Veikkausliiga1320080002121999Veikkausliiga274003000304Total6580013000788Viking2000Tippeligaen25320——2732001Tippeligaen2612161—3432002Tippeligaen81———81Total595416100697West Ham United (loan)2000–01Premier League8020—00100Anderlecht2002–03Belgian First Division A2431080—3332003–04Belgian First Division A29262101—4552004–05Belgian First Division A1941041102552005–06Belgian First Division A29310101—404Total10112923231014317Zürich2006–07Swiss Super League3245020—3942007–08Swiss Super League2724271—3852008–09Swiss Super League2924040—3722009–10Swiss Super League27120101—392Total11591522320015313Career total445463057461053057
International Scores and results list Finland’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tihinen goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Hannu TihinenHannu Tihinen international matches at Finnish FA No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 5 June 1999 Helsinki, Finland 2–4 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying2 15 August 2001 Helsinki, Finland 4–1 Friendly3 12 October 2002 Helsinki, Finland 3–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying4 7 September 2005 Tampere, Finland 5–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification5 5 September 2009 Lankaran, Azerbaijan 2–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours HJK Veikkausliiga: 1997 Finnish Cup: 1998 Finnish League Cup: 1997, 1998 The best defender of the Finnish Veikkausliiga 1999
Viking Norwegian Cup: 2001
Anderlecht Belgian First Division: 2003–04, 2005–06
Zürich Swiss Super League: 2007, 2009 The best defender in the Swiss Axpo Super League 2009
References
External links Profile at FA of Finland's official website Profile at FC Zürich's official website