Otso Virtanen

Otso Virtanen
Virtanen playing for Finland U-21s in November 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-04-03) 3 April 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Turku, Finland
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Ilves
Number 1
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 ÅIFK 20 (0)
2011–2012 TPS 1 (0)
2013–2016 IFK Mariehamn 65 (0)
2016–2017 Hibernian 0 (0)
2017–2022 KuPS 115 (0)
2023– Ilves 49 (0)
International career
2014–2016 Finland U21 13 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 April 2016

Otso Virtanen (born 3 April 1994) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ilves.

Club career

Virtanen started his professional career in 2011 at TPS, appearing primarily for their reserve team ÅIFK. Before the 2013 season, he moved to IFK Mariehamn and appeared in 22 matches. In 2014, he served primarily as the backup for Swedish goalkeeper Simon Nurme.[1]

Virtanen signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Scottish club Hibernian on 24 January 2016.[2] Virtanen was an unused substitute as Hibs lost the 2015–16 Scottish League Cup final to Ross County.[3] He made his first appearance for Hibs in a 2015–16 Scottish Cup tie against Inverness, coming on as a substitute after regular goalkeeper Mark Oxley lost a contact lens.[4][5] Oxley was shown a yellow card by the referee during this incident, which caused him to be suspended for the Scottish Cup semi-final.[5] Hibs manager Alan Stubbs then signed Conrad Logan as an alternative goalkeeper,[6] and chose to play Logan in the semi-final ahead of Virtanen.[7]

Virtanen made one starting appearance for Hibs, playing in a 2016–17 UEFA Europa League qualifying first leg match against Brondby.[4] He was at fault for the Brondby goal in that match and was replaced for the second leg by Ross Laidlaw.[8] Virtanen left Hibs in January 2017 and signed for Finnish club KuPS.[4]

On 22 May 2024, Virtanen signed a contract extension with Ilves, on a deal until the end of 2026.[9] He had gained a team captaincy in his first season with the club in 2023.

International career

In May 2014, Virtanen was selected for the Finland national under-21 team for the match against Moldova.[10]

Career statistics

As of 22 October 2024.[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
ÅIFK 2011 Kakkonen 2 0 2 0
2012 Kakkonen 18 0 18 0
Total 20 0 20 0
TPS 2011 Veikkausliiga 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2012 Veikkausliiga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
IFK Mariehamn 2013 Veikkausliiga 22 0 2 0 6 0 30 0
2014 Veikkausliiga 17 0 3 0 4 0 24 0
2015 Veikkausliiga 26 0 1 0 2 0 29 0
Total 65 0 6 0 12 0 83 0
Hibernian 2015–16 Scottish Championship 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2016–17 Scottish Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[c] 0 1 0
Total 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
KuPS 2017 Veikkausliiga 33 0 6 0 39 0
2018 Veikkausliiga 25 0 4 0 2[c] 0 31 0
2019 Veikkausliiga 25 0 4 0 4[c] 0 33 0
2020 Veikkausliiga 22 0 6 0 4[d] 0 32 0
2021 Veikkausliiga 5 0 5 0 0 0 10 0
2022 Veikkausliiga 5 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Total 115 0 29 0 0 0 10 0 154 0
KuPS II 2022 Kakkonen 2 0 2 0
Ilves 2023 Veikkausliiga 25 0 6 0 5 0 36 0
2024 Veikkausliiga 24 0 1 0 6 0 3[e] 0 34 0
Total 49 0 7 0 11 0 3 0 70 0
Career total 252 0 43 0 23 0 14 0 332 0

Honours

Hibernian
Kuopion Palloseura
Ilves
IFK Mariehamn

References

  1. ^ "VIRTANEN Otso" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Hibernian: Finnish goalkeeper Otso Virtanen signed". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, Richard (13 March 2016). "Scottish League Cup Final: Hibernian 1 Ross County 2". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Goalkeeper Otso Virtanen leaves Hibs to return to Finland". Edinburgh Evening News. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Inverness 1-2 Hibs: Stubbs frustrated by Oxley suspension". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Hibernian sign former Leicester City goalkeeper Conrad Logan". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Conrad Logan: Hibs keeper 'buzzing' after 'perfect' debut". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  8. ^ Lamont, Alasdair (24 July 2016). "Ross Laidlaw surprise at Hibs bow against Brondby in Europa League". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  9. ^ Ilves-kapteeni Otso Virtaselle kaksivuotinen jatkosopimus, ilvesfootball.com, 22 May 2024
  10. ^ "Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty Moldova-otteluun" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. ^ Otso Virtanen stats, Football Association of Finland
  12. ^ Ilveksen päävalmentaja hopeasta: ”Voitettu mitali”, Yle, 19 October 2024