Lassi Lappalainen Explained

Lassi Lappalainen
Full Name:Lassi Roni Kasperi Lappalainen
Birth Date:24 August 1998
Birth Place:Espoo, Finland
Height:1.83 m[1]
Position:Winger
Currentclub:CF Montréal
Clubnumber:21
Youthyears1:–2010
Youthclubs1:EPS
Youthyears2:2011–2015
Youthclubs2:HJK
Years1:2015–2016
Clubs1:Klubi 04
Caps1:21
Goals1:10
Years2:2015–2019
Clubs2:HJK
Caps2:30
Goals2:3
Years3:2017–2018
Clubs3:RoPS (loan)
Caps3:39
Goals3:12
Years4:2019–2021
Clubs4:Bologna
Caps4:0
Goals4:0
Years5:2019–2021
Clubs5:CF Montréal (loan)
Caps5:39
Goals5:10
Years6:2022–
Clubs6:CF Montréal
Caps6:57
Goals6:5
Nationalyears1:2013–2014
Nationalteam1:Finland U16
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:1
Nationalyears2:2014
Nationalteam2:Finland U17
Nationalcaps2:7
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2016
Nationalteam3:Finland U18
Nationalcaps3:2
Nationalgoals3:0
Nationalyears4:2016–2017
Nationalteam4:Finland U19
Nationalcaps4:6
Nationalgoals4:5
Nationalyears5:2017–
Nationalteam5:Finland U21
Nationalcaps5:7
Nationalgoals5:3
Nationalyears6:2019–
Nationalteam6:Finland
Nationalcaps6:9
Nationalgoals6:0
Club-Update:4 July 2024
Nationalteam-Update:22:25, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Lassi Roni Kasperi Lappalainen (born 24 August 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club CF Montréal.

Club career

Early career

Born in Espoo in 1998, Lappalainen started his football career with Espoon Palloseura (EPS)[2] and later moved to HJK youth team. Lappalainen played in Klubi 04, the reserve team of HJK.

HJK

In 2016, Lappalainen was called up for HJK's first team. On 2 April 2016, he made his Veikkausliiga debut against IFK Mariehamn at Sonera Stadium, being substituted on by coach Mika Lehkosuo in place of Nnamdi Oduamadi in the 90th minute.[3] Lappalainen also represented HJK youth in UEFA Youth League twice, in 2015–16 and 2016–17.

RoPS (loan)

On 21 July 2017, Lappalainen was loaned to RoPS for remainder of the Veikkausliiga season.[4] Two days later, he scored his first league goal for RoPS just five minutes into his debut after coming on as a substitute.[5]

Bologna

On 19 July 2019, Lappalainen signed to Italian Serie A club Bologna. HJK Helsinki stated it received "significant compensation" and that economically, the transfer was in the "top 7 of HJK's club history".[6] [7] The transfer fee was later reported to be €700.000.[8]

Montreal

On 25 July 2019, it was announced that Lappalainen was loaned to Major League Soccer (MLS) club Montreal Impact, later renamed as CF Montréal, for the remainder of the 2019 season using $180,000 of the Targeted Allocation Money. The Impact have options to extend the loan until 30 June 2020, as well as until 31 December 2020.[9] On 27 July 2019, he contributed two goals to Montreal Impact's 4–0 victory over the first-place Philadelphia Union on his MLS debut.[10]

On 3 December 2021, Lappalainen's move to Montréal was made permanent, on a deal until the end of 2024, with an option to extend it.[11]

International career

Lappalainen made his debut for the Finland national team on 8 January 2019 in a friendly against Sweden, as a starter.[12]

Lappalainen was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[13]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Klubi 042015Kakkonen14700147
2016Kakkonen510051
2017Kakkonen220022
Total2110000000002110
HJK2015Veikkausliiga0000100010
2016Veikkausliiga140104000190
2017Veikkausliiga00511061
2018Veikkausliiga00000000
2019Veikkausliiga1635122236
Total303112503200497
RoPS (loan)2017Veikkausliiga13400134
2018Veikkausliiga268533111
Total3912530000004415
Bologna2019–20Serie A00000000
CF Montréal (loan)2019MLS1154000155
2020MLS1340010144
2021MLS1513000181
Total3910700000104710
CF Montréal2022MLS283004020343
2023MLS212202000252
2024MLS8000000080
Total57520204020675
Career total1413623550321017343

International

[14]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland201970
202000
202120
Total90

Honours

Montreal Impact

2019[15] 2021[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lassi Lappalainen . 21 August 2022 . CF Montréal.
  2. Web site: Lapista tulleella Lappalaisella kovat tavoitteet Stadissa – "Toivon ykköslaiturin roolia". Lappalainen from Lapland sets hard goals at Stadio - "I hope to be number one". vantaansanomat.fi. fi. Vantaan Sanomat. 19 March 2018. 19 March 2019.
  3. Web site: HJK vs. Mariehamn - 2 April 2016 - Soccerway. us.soccerway.com. 14 December 2016.
  4. Web site: RoPS lainasi Lappalaisen Helsingin Jalkapalloklubista. rops.fi. 21 July 2017.
  5. Web site: RoPS - SJK 23 July 2017. Soccerway. 23 July 2017.
  6. Web site: UFFICIALE: Bologna, tesserato il finlandese Lappalainen. 20 July 2019. Italian.
  7. Web site: Arrivederci, Lassi Lappalainen! . HJK Helsinki . 20 July 2019 . Finnish . 17 July 2019.
  8. https://www.hs.fi/urheilu/art-2000009789602.html Maailmalle kasvamaan
  9. Web site: Lappalainen on loan. 25 July 2019. English.
  10. Web site: Lappalainen scores twice in MLS debut, Impact hammer Union. 27 July 2019. 27 July 2019. English.
  11. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/lassi-lappalainen-transferred-from-bologna-to-cf-montreal-signs-long-term-deal Lassi Lappalainen transferred from Bologna to CF Montréal, signs long-term deal
  12. Web site: Eurosport. Sweden v Finland game report. 8 January 2019.
  13. News: Näillä pelaajilla Huuhkajat lähtevät kohti EM-kisoja – kaksi nimeä kiinnostivat yli muiden . 19 May 2021 . 24 May 2021. Helsingin Sanomat. fi.
  14. Web site: Lassi Lappalainen . National Football Teams . 16 June 2021.
  15. Web site: Montréal takes 2019 Canadian Championship title. 28 September 2019.
  16. Web site: Montreal beats Toronto FC 1-0 to win Canadian Championship Voyageurs Cup. 21 November 2021.