Markku Kanerva

Markku Tapio Kanerva (born 24 May 1964)[2] is a Finnish football manager, former player and elementary school teacher. He is the current manager of the Finnish national team.

Markku Kanerva
Kanerva as manager of Finland in 2021
Personal information
Full name Markku Tapio Kanerva[1]
Date of birth (1964-05-24) 24 May 1964
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Finland (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 HJK 184 (26)
1991–1992 IF Elfsborg 44 (3)
1993 FinnPa 26 (1)
1994–1995 HJK 42 (1)
1996 FC Honka 1 (0)
1996–1998 HJK 37 (1)
International career
1986–1995 Finland 59 (1)
Managerial career
2001–2002 HJK (assistant)
2003 FC Viikingit
2004–2010 Finland U21
2011–2016 Finland (assistant)
2016– Finland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Kanerva, who is known by the nickname "Rive", was born in Helsinki. In Finland, he played as a central defender and full back in his hometown clubs HJK (1983–1990 and 1994–1998) and the season 1994 in the then local rivals FinnPa. The seasons 1991 and 1992, he played in the Swedish team IF Elfsborg. At international level, Kanerva went on to win 59 caps, and scored one goal for the Finnish national team. His last years as a player were shadowed by injuries, but he was still an important part of the HJK defence. His playing career ended in 1998 which included the historical Champions League participation. At the Finnish top league, he played total of 291 matches and scored 29 goals.

Coaching career

Kanerva worked as a school teacher already during his playing career, but since then he has been concentrating on football coaching. In 2001 and 2002, he was an assistant coach of Jyrki Heliskoski and Keith Armstrong in his former club HJK, and in 2003 he was the head coach of the East Helsinki club FC Viikingit. As the head coach of under-21 side, he led the team to the 2009 European Championships final tournament. In the same year, he was awarded the Coach of the Year in Finland.

On 29 November 2010, it was announced that Kanerva would coach the Finnish national team for the Spring period in 2011 while the Finnish FA will be seeking a new head coach.[3][4] Mika Laurikainen took his place as the U21 coach. Kanerva had another spell as caretaker manager of Finland in 2015. In December 2016, he was permanently appointed manager of the Finnish national team on a three-year contract.[5] In November 2019, he managed his Finland team to qualification for the UEFA Euro 2020.

Managerial statistics
As of 17 October 2023
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
FC Viikingit 2003 2003 26 13 8 5 050.00
Finland U21 2004 2009 29 12 4 13 041.38
Finland (interim) January 2011 December 2015 7 3 3 1 042.86
Finland December 2016 present 65 29 9 27 044.62
Total 127 57 24 46 044.88

Honours and achievements

Player

HJK

Manager

Finland

Sources

References
  1. Markku Kanerva – UEFA competition record (archive) 
  2. Keskitalo, Tapio (12 December 2016). "Kanerva otti maajoukkueen tyynenä komentoonsa". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  3. "Suomen Palloliitto - Artikkeliarkisto". Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  4. "Suomen Palloliitto - Artikkeliarkisto". Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  5. "Markku Kanerva A-maajoukkueen päävalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
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