Finnish footballing icon – Mixu Paatelainen, is a former professional player and current manager of the Hong Kong national football team. He scored an impressive 18 goals in 70 appearances for his beloved Finland, which makes him the nation’s all time thirteenth most capped player and fifth top goal scorer. As a player, the Finn won the Finnish Cup with Valkeakosken Haka and Scottish First Division Cup with Hibernian. As a manager, he most famously won the Baltic Cup with Latvia.
Paatelainen enjoyed a fruitful 20-year playing career, playing for nine different elite level clubs in four countries. The bulk of his career was spent in the Scottish leagues, with Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hibernian, St Johnstone and St Mirren. The super striker also played for Bolton Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in England and RC Strasbourg in France. While at Bolton, Paatelainen earned the special title of becoming the first Finn to play in the Premier League.
As a managerial highlight, Paatelainen was appointed manager of the Finland national team in March 2011, a position he held dearly until June 2015. He was then appointed as Dundee United manager in 2015. More recently, the fantastic Finn has managed the national teams of Latvia and Hong Kong. Now an established international manager, we can expect to see Paatelainen achieving great success in the likes of the World Cup.
