Football memories are like our youth memories, as a post-80s I began to watch football in the 90s of the last century. This issue brings me memories of football, the absolute superstar – "Finnish Ice Knife" Litmanin.
Jari Litmanen (born 20 February 1971 in Lahti, Finland) is a retired Finnish footballer who plays as a striker for Repas, Helsinki, Kovolamipa, Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, Lakhti and Fulham.
Litmanin was born into a football family, both to parents who played for the domestic Club Repas and the father of a Finnish international. Unsurprisingly, Litmanin's career began with Repas. In January 1987, at the age of 16, he played for The Finnish top flight for Repas for the first time. Soon to emerge, he moved to Helsinki in 1991 and Milukowski in 1992, and then moved to Ajax, a world footballer, and embarked on the road to fame. At the time, he was only 21 years old.
After a year of adaptation, in the 1993-94 season, Litmanin was selected from Ajax's Golden Youth Army. Scoring 26 goals in 30 Eredivisie games, he became the top scorer in the Eredivisie and helped Ajax win the title. That season, he scored 36 goals in 39 games in each line and was impressive. The following season, Louis van Gaal's Ajax took it a step further, winning the champions in the domestic champions league with a 1–0 win over defending champions AC Milan in the Champions League final. With six goals in 11 Champions League games that season and 26 goals in 43 games for the club, Litmanin finished third in the 1995 Ballon d'Or Awards. In the 1995–96 season, Ajax reached the Champions League final again, but unfortunately lost to Juventus in the penalty shootout and was relegated to second place. However, Litmanin's personal performance has risen, and he became the Champions League top scorer of the season with 9 goals in 10 games.
During his first time with Ajax, Litmanin was arguably the king of the club. He has won four league titles for Ajax in seven years, as well as one Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one Toyota Cup. Having scored 129 goals for Ajax in seven seasons, he has unquestionably become a legend for the club. In Ajax's museum, only 3 legendary players were treated with matching special introductory videos. In addition to Cruyff and Van Basten, the other was Litmanin. The Finn's teammate rijkaard at Ajax once said: "The best No. 10 player in Ajax history should have been Litmanin. "The wonderful skill that Litmanin displayed on the field was so intoxicating that Ajax fans could not help but compare him to the famous magicians of European medieval legends. Unfortunately, Litmanin's physique was prone to injury, and from 1992 to 1999, when he played for Ajax, he missed more than one-fourth of the league games, and seven of the 24 European games in the next three years did not play.
In the summer of 1999, Litmanin switched to Barcelona, coached by N'Sergean Pedral, with several other Ajax players. However, as he continued to be plagued by injuries, Litmanin played 32 games in the 1999-00 season, scoring just seven goals. In the first half of the 2000–01 season, without Van Gaal's protection, Litmanin, who was snatched up by Rivaldo and took the No. 10, did not even make a single appearance for the club. So, during the winter transfer period of 2001, he moved freely to Liverpool, which he supported as a child. But at this time, Litmanin was already overwhelmed, and he also failed to get back in form at Liverpool.
Litmanin returned to Ajax in the summer of 2002, but was on the road again a year and a half later. After travelling to Lahti in Finland, Rostock in Germany, Malmö in Sweden and Fulham in England, Litmanin announced his retirement in 2011, ending his career in Helsinki, where he had played early. On the club side, Litmanin scored 227 goals in 597 games, and the efficiency is commendable. For the national team, he played from 1989 to 2010, with 137 appearances and 32 goals giving him the first place in team history.
Finnish Player of the Year 50, Finnish Footballer of the Year 9th... Many honours bear witness to The unshakable importance of Litmannin in the history of Finnish football. On the pitch, Litmanin plays as a striker or two forward, and with excellent technical and tactical qualities, he is the greatest player in Finnish history. In 2004, In the 100 Greatest People in Finnish History, Litmanin was uncontroversially shortlisted, which shows how influential he was.
Litmanin career personal data:
1989-2010 Finnish national team scored 32 goals in 137 games
1987-1990 Repas scored 30 goals in 98 games
1991 Helsinki scored 16 goals in 29 games
1992 Milukowski scored 11 goals in 24 games
1992-1999 Ajax scored 129 goals in 226 games
1999-01 Barcelona 4 goals in 32 games
2001-02 Liverpool scored 9 goals in 43 games
2002-04 Ajax scored 7 goals in 31 games
2004 Lahti scored 3 goals in 13 games
2005 Rostock 1 goal in 14 games
2005-07 Malmö scored 3 goals in 12 games
2008 Fulham scored 0 goals in 0 games
2008-2010 Lahti scored 12 goals in 53 games
2011 Helsinki Team scored 2 goals in 22 games
Litmanin Career Key Team Honors:
Toyota Cup 1 time (1995)
UEFA Super Cup 2 times (1995-96, 2001-02)
Champions League 1 time (1994-1995)
Dutch 5 times (1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1997-98, 2003-04)
Fenchao 1 time (2011)
Finnish Cup 2 times (1992, 2011)
Dutch Cup 3 times (1992-93, 1997-98, 1998-99)
Littmanin's career key individual honors:
Finnish sports figure 1 time (1995)
Finnish Player of the Year 50 (2003)
Finnish Footballer of the Year 9 times (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000)
Finnish Journalists Association Player of the Year 8 times (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Dutch Footballer of the Year 1 (1993)
Finnish Premier League Player 1 time (1990)
Champions League top scorer 1 time (1995-96)
Top scorer in the Eredivisie 1 (1993–94)
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