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FC JAZZ DREAM TEAM OF ALL TIMES That's gotta be the team Jazz had in 1993 when they won their first championship title. This line-up is widely recognised as one of the best line-ups a Finnish team have ever had. The last game of the season was played at Pori stadium on 3rd October 1993 and we we're playing MyPa who were second and still had a chance to win. There were approx. 12 000 fans watching the game and oh, boy, it was great. We beat MyPa 6-3 and the celebrating was about to start after the final whistle.... Unfortunately midfielder Juha Riippa, who's a sort of an icon in Pori, was injured during this season and didn't play a single game. That's why I include him as the midfielder who replaces f.e. Miika Juntunen in every other game. He was very important player... ANTTI SUMIALA - LUIZ ANTONIO RODRIGO - JARMO ALATENSIÖ - MIIKA JUNTUNEN/JUHA RIIPPA - PIRACAIA VESA RANTANEN - LASSE KARJALAINEN - RAMI NIEMINEN - RISTO KOSKIKANGAS TOMMI KOIVISTOINEN Players who deserve to be mentioned: Seppo Lehtikangas (gk), Pasi Sulonen (d), Petri Nieminen (m), Jorma Heinonen (s), Saku Laaksonen (s), --------------------------------------------- 1. TOMMI KOIVISTOINEN (goal) Born 10th July 1970 (Tampere) Was chosen as the best goalie in the league in 1993 when Jazz won the title. Played in many teams during his long career and is now playing for Allianssi. Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1991: 28 1992: 33 1993: 28 1994: 25 TOTAL GAMES: 114 2. LASSE KARJALAINEN (centre-back) Born 22th October 1974 (Botkyrka, Sweden) Lasse was very important defender alonside Rami Nieminen in the centre of Jazz defence. Won the title in 1993 and was transferred to Haka in 1995 and is still playing for Haka. Games in national team: 13 Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1991: 2 (0 goals) 1992: 6 (0) 1993: 28 (0) 1994: 26 (0) TOTAL GAMES: 62 (0 goals) 4. VESA RANTANEN (full-back) Born 7th November 1969 (Pori) Important full-back. Started at PPT (previous name for Jazz) in 1986 and played in title winning teams in 1993 and 1996. Was transferred to Inter after season 2000. After spending two years in Turku he came back to reinforce Jazz's back four. Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1986: 1 (0) 1987: 22 (0) 1988: 25 (0) 1989: ?? (?) 1990: ?? (?) 1991: 32 (0) 1992: 32 (1) 1993: 29 (1) 1994: 25 (3) 1995: 24 (0) 1996: 22 (0) 1997: 19 (0) 1998: 26 (1) 1999: 18 (0) 2000: 32 (0) 2003: TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 6. JUHA RIIPPA (midfield) Born 12th September 1968 (Kokkola) Juha Riippa played 11 seasons at Jazz and was respected around Finland. He never gave up on the pitch and was very important player in midfield. Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1991: 33 (4) 1992: 33 (7) 1993: 00 (0) (injured) 1994: 23 (3) 1995: 24 (3) 1996: 25 (7) 1997: 22 (4) 1998: 25 (3) 2000: 32 (3) 2001: 15 (2) 2002: 18 (0) 2003: 24 (2) TOTAL GAMES: 274 (38) 7. JARMO ALATENSIÖ (midfield) born 9th November 1963 (Pori) / died ??th ?? 2003 What can you say about The Man? He was the very skilful midfielder and captain for many years. Great freekicks and inspirational passes. Sadly he passed away in the spring. Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1983: ?? (??) 1984: 21 (0) 1985: 20 (4) 1986: 22 (2) 1987: 22 (10) 1989: ?? (??) 1990: ?? (??) 1991: 32 (5) 1992: 33 (4) 1993: 29 (6) 1994: 24 (6) 1995: 24 (5) 1996: 10 (0) TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 10. RISTO KOSKIKANGAS (full-back) born 22th NOvember 1969 (?) Played at right-back at Jazz for eleven seasons and won two championship titles. Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1986: 3 (0) 1987: 10 (0) 1988: 25 (3) 1989: ?? (??) 1990: ?? (??) 1991: 30 (2) 1992: 33 (1) 1993: 28 (1) 1994: 25 (1) 1995: 22 (1) 1996: 14 (0) TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 11. RODRIGO (left wing) Born 24th May 1971 (Curitiba, Brazil) Very talented in midfield and still play for Jazz though he starts to be too slow and old. Was one of the key players to win the titles back in 1993 and 1996. Games played at FC Jazz: 1993: 28 (7) 1994: 10 (1) 1995: 25 (9) 1996: 3 (0) 1998: 20 (6) 2001: 19 (8) 2002: 21 (8) 2003: ?? (??) TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 14. LUIZ ANTONIO (attack) Born 30th November 1970 (Garca-Sao Paolo, Brazil) He's one of the famous brazilians (well, at least famous to us) who put FC Jazz into new dimension. He was a brilliant striker who scored very important goals. He won the title in 1993 and in 1996 in Jazz. He has played also for Mainz in Germany and for HJK and now he's at MyPa. Games played at FC Jazz: 1992: 29 (21) 1993: 7 (6) 1994: 20 (11) 1995: 24 (14) 1996: 25 (17) TOTAL GAMES: 105 (69) 16. PIRACAIA (freely at right wing) Born 17th April 1971 (Brazil) Piracaia has been very important for Jazz during these years. He first came to Jazz in 1992 with Rodrigo and Tulio and fans loved him at once. In his first season Jazz were third in the league (1992) and in his second they won the title. He also was one of the main architechts when Jazz won the title in 1996. Games played at FC Jazz: 1992: 29 (4) 1993: 29 (6) 1994: 24 (3) 1995: 24 (3) 1996: 24 (10) 1997: 15 (1) 2003: ?? (??) TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 20. RAMI NIEMINEN (centre-back) Born 25th February 1966 (Tampere) "Raikka" was the solid rock of the defence. Also has played for Haka and was transferred to FC Jokerit after season 2002. The most experienced player in Veikkausliiga nowadays with 427 games played. Games in national team: 14 Games played at PPT/FC Jazz: 1985: 17 (1) 1986: 21 (1) 1987: 22 (1) 1990: ?? (??) 1991: 33 (15) 1992: 31 (5) 1993: 28 (4) 1994: 16 (1) 1995: 23 (4) 1996: 26 (2) 1997: 21 (1) 1998: 25 (3) 1999: 28 (4) 2000: 32 (5) 2001: 32 (0) 2002: 20 (2) TOTAL GAMES: ?? (??) 77. MIIKA JUNTUNEN (midfield) Born 9th October 1964 (Kemi) Nevertheless he played only two seasons for Jazz he was the creative and important midfielder in 1993 when Jazz won the title. Games played at FC Jazz: 1993: 29 (4) 2001: 16 (0) TOTAL GAMES: 45 (4) As a comparison to my dream team, here's Tapio Laiho of FC Jazz and his all time dream team of PPT/FC Jazz (16 players): goalkeeper: Jyrki Rovio defenders: Vesa Rantanen, Rami Nieminen, Carlton Fairweather, Risto Virtanen and Olli Lamminen midfielders: Juha Riippa, Jarmo Alatensiö, Risto Puustinen, Richard Wilson and Piracaia strikers: Jarmo Manninen, Mika Sankala, Antti Sumiala, Ricky and Luiz Antonio additional players: Olli Forström (gk) and Lasse Karjalainen (d) |