Otso Liimatta

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Otso Liimatta
Personal information
Full name Otso Urho Eemil Liimatta[1]
Date of birth (2004-07-10) 10 July 2004 (age 19)
Place of birth Oulu, Finland[2]
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder[2]
Team information
Current team
 Famalicão
Number 18
Youth career
2008–2020 Tervarit
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 OLS 18 (3)
2021–2023 AC Oulu 53 (9)
2023– Famalicão 10 (0)
International career‡
2019 Finland U15 2 (0)
2019 Finland U16 2 (1)
2021–2022 Finland U18 6 (1)
2022 Finland U19 6 (1)
2023– Finland U21 11 (6)
Medal record
AC Oulu
First place Ykkönen 2020
Second place Finnish League Cup 2023
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 February 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024

Otso Urho Eemil Liimatta (born 10 July 2004) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Famalicão and the Finland under-21 national team.

Club career[edit]

AC Oulu[edit]

Born in Oulu and raised in Karjasilta, Liimatta played in the youth sector of Tervarit before signing his first professional contract with AC Oulu in September 2020.[3][4]

He made his Veikkausliiga debut on 28 May 2021, aged 16, in a 3–1 away loss to HJK: in the process, he assisted his side's only goal.[5] During 2011, Liimatta played for the club's reserve team Oulun Luistinseura (OLS) in third-tier Kakkonen, and additionally made nine appearances in Veikkausliiga with the first team.

Liimatta scored his first goal in the league on 29 April 2022, the opener in a 3–0 home win against Haka.[6] In the summer of 2022, various Finnish media outlets reported that Liimatta had attracted interest by several high-profile European clubs.[7][8] At the end of the 2022 season, Liimatta was named the Best Young Player of the Year at the Captain's Ball awards held by the Finnish FA.[9][10][11]

F.C. Famalicão[edit]

On 29 July 2023, Liimatta officially joined Primeira Liga side Famalicão for an undisclosed fee,[12][13][14] signing a four-year deal with the Portuguese club.[13][15] According to the media, the fee was in six figures and is believed to be close to €600,000.[16]

He made his debut for the Fama on 11 August 2023, starting in the opening league game of the season against Braga, which ended in a 2–1 win for his team.[17][18]

International career[edit]

Youth[edit]

Liimatta has represented Finland at various youth levels.

On 7 March 2023, at the age of 18, he got his first call-up to the Finland under-21 national team for two friendly matches against North Macedonia and Bulgaria.[19] He scored his first U21 goal in the latter match, on 28 March 2023, taking part in a 0–2 win over Bulgaria.[11][20]

Liimatta scored a hat-trick against Albania U21 on 13 October 2023 in a 2025 UEFA Euro Under-21 qualifying match, which ended in 4–1 victory for Finland.[21]

Career statistics[edit]

As of 17 February 2024[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Other Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
OLS 2020 Kakkonen 1 0 0 0 2[b] 2 — 3 2
2021 Kakkonen 17 3 0 0 — — 17 3
Total 18 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 20 5
AC Oulu 2021 Veikkausliiga 9 0 0 0 — — 9 0
2022 Veikkausliiga 28 5 3 1 0 0 — 31 6
2023 Veikkausliiga 16 4 3 3 7[c] 1 — 26 8
Total 53 9 6 4 7 1 0 0 66 14
Famalicão 2023–24 Primeira Liga 10 0 1 0 — — 11 0
Career total 81 12 7 4 9 3 0 0 97 19
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup and Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Appearances in Kakkonen Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in Finnish League Cup

Honours[edit]

AC Oulu

Individual

References[edit]

  1. ^ Player profile, playmakerstats.com
  2. ^ a b Otso Liimatta at WorldFootball.net
  3. ^ Nevala, Kai (22 November 2021). "17-vuotias oululainen Otso Liimata on hionut taitonsa kotipihallaan Kar-jasillalla - Juniori murtautui syksyllä AC Oulun liigajoukkueeseen" (in Finnish). Kaleva. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  4. ^ Nevala, Kai (18 September 2022). "Otso Liimata, 18, on noussut raketin lailla yhdeksi AC Oulun tärkeimmistä pelaajista – Miksi kevytrakenteinen juniori on pystynyt pelaamaan erinomaisen liigakauden?" (in Finnish). Kaleva. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  5. ^ "HJK Helsinki - AC Oulu 3:1 (Veikkausliiga 2021, 2. Round)". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  6. ^ "OULU VS. HAKA 3 - 0)". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Veikkausliigan timantti herättää kiinnostusta ulkomaalaisseuroissa - italialaisjätti mukana kuvioissa" (in Finnish). MTV Uutiset. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  8. ^ Teksti, Joel Perovuo (10 August 2022). "Huippulupaus Otso Liimatta kasvaa korkeaa korkoa portugalilaisen kultasormen tehtaassa" (in Finnish). elmotv.com. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Captain's Ball 2022 palkitut" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Henkilökuvassa viime kauden nuori sensaatio Otso Liimatta" (in Finnish). pallotv.fi. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Otso Liimatta: Olen asettanut tulevalle kaudelle entistä kovemmat tavoitteet" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  12. ^ "AC Oulun Otso Liimatta Portugaliin" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Otso Liimatta assina por quatro temporadas" (in European Portuguese). FC Famalicão. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  14. ^ Halonen, Mika (29 July 2023). "Jalkapallon suomalainen superlupaus Otso Liimatta, 19, Portugalin pääsarjaan – AC Oulu "tyytyväinen" siirtokorvaukseen". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Oficial: Contratada promessa do futebol finlandês (Famalicão)". A Bola (in European Portuguese). 29 July 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Suomalaislupaus teki harvinaisen valinnan - ratkaisu syntyi Googlen avulla" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  17. ^ Savonen, Ilari (11 August 2023). "Huippulupaus Otso Liimatta, 19, heti avauksessa Portugalin liigassa". MTV Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Sp. Braga x Famalicão - Record Jogos em Direto". Record.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty maaliskuun maaotteluihin" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Tulospalvelu" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  21. ^ Finland vs Albania, 13 October 2023, UEFA
  22. ^ "Otso Liimatta". flashscore.
  23. ^ HJK AC Oulu, Veikkausliiga
  24. ^ "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat kauden parhaiksi". Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  25. ^ Captain's Ball 2023 Kaj Natrille – Katso kaikki palkitut, Veikkausliiga, 1 December 2023
  26. ^ Vuoden pelaaja Otso Liimatta AC Oulu, acoulu.fi, 15 February 2023
  27. ^ AC OULULAISIA PALKITTIIN PALLOLIITON POHJOISEN ALUEEN GAALASSA, acoulu.fi, 22 February 2024

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otso_Liimatta&oldid=1218596508"