Petri Oravainen

Petri Oravainen
Personal information
Date of birth (1983-01-26) 26 January 1983
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 KuPS
Number 11
Youth career
Puistolan Urheilijat
– Käpylän Pallo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001-2006 HJK Helsinki 98 (18)
2006-2008 FC Zwolle 24 (4)
2008-2009 HJK Helsinki 35 (4)
2010- KuPS 12 (1)
National team‡
2004- Finland 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 July 2010.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 August 2008

Petri Oravainen (born 26 January 1983 in Helsinki) is a Finnish footballer, who represents KuPS in the Veikkausliiga, the Finnish premier division. Oravainen, who is 177 cm tall, plays as a winger on both left and right side. He made his debut at the senior level in 2001 at the age of 18.

Club career

Oravainen joined HJK as a thirteen-year-old. Before moving to Finnish top club's youth team, he had played in smaller junior clubs in the capital area. In 2001, he debuted in the first team and was said to be one of the most talented youth players in the league. In 2004, he was called up to the national team for the first time. However, a run of injuries disturbed his development and he could not really live up to the high expectations. He became one of the fans' favourites and especially his pace was a danger for many opponents.

He decided to take a look at playing abroad and signed a contract with FC Zwolle in the Dutch Eerste Divisie in 2006. He had a good start, but after another injury to his anckle he was out for several months and lost his place in the first team. After 16 matches and 4 goals, he moved back to HJK Helsinki, where he was welcomed as the lost son. In the 2008 season he played a total of 20 league games for 'Klubi' in which he scored four times.

'Pexi' had a big share in the victory over FC Honka in the Finnish Cup 2008 final. In own Finnair Stadium the home team beat the visitors from Espoo with 2-1 after extra time. Oravainen scored the winning goal after 114 minutes with a magnificent strike from just outside the penalty box. That goal delivered HJK the 10th Finnish Cup victory in its history and the third one for Oravainen himself. This makes him the player with most Suomen Cup victories of the current HJK squad.


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