Oskari Kekkonen

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Orevillo and the surname or paternal family name is Kekkonen.
Oskari Kekkonen
Personal information
Full name Oskari Johannes Orevillo Kekkonen
Date of birth (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Kotka, Finland
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Lamphun Warrior
Number 55
Youth career
Peli-Karhut
2019 SJK Seinäjoki
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 KTP 11 (0)
2016 → Sudet (loan) 2 (0)
2017–2018 Lahti 7 (0)
2017 → FC Kuusysi (loan) 16 (1)
2018 → PKKU (loan) 5 (0)
2018 → KTP (loan) 6 (0)
2019 PeKa 19 (5)
2019–2021 PEPO 21 (3)
2021 PeKa 2 (0)
2021–2022 Azkals Development Team 0 (0)
2022 Kaya-Iloilo 12 (0)
2023 PK-35 6 (0)
2023– Lamphun Warriors 24 (1)
International career‡
2017 Finland U18
2021–2022 Philippines U23 10 (1)
2021– Philippines 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:36, 29 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:00, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Oskari Johannes Orevillo Kekkonen[2] (born 24 September 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Thai League 1 club Lamphun Warrior and the Philippines national team.

Born in Finland to a Filipino mother and a Finnish father, he played for his birth country at youth level before switching international allegiance to the Philippines in 2021.

Club career

Born in Kotka, Finland, to a Filipino mother and a Finnish father,[3] he made his first-team debut for KTP in 2016, at the age of 17.[4] He then played for Sudet, FC Lahti, FC Kuusysi and PKKU.[1][5]

On 21 July 2018, he re-joined KTP on loan from FC Lahti until the end of the season.[6] In April 2019 it appeared from SJK Seinäjoki's website, that Kekkonen had become a part of the club's U20 squad.[7][8] He returned to his childhood club, Peli-Karhut, in April 2019.[8] In September 2019, Kekkonen joined PEPO Lappeenranta.[9]

As of October 2021, he was signed with the Azkals Development Team of the Philippines Football League.[10] In his first tournament with the club, they finished as runners-up of the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara.[11] In January 2022 he moved to Kaya-Iloilo.[12]

He returned to Finland with PK-35 for the 2023 season.[13]

On 2 July 2023, he signed with Lamphun Warriors for the 2023–24 Thai League 1 Season.[14]

International career

Finland U18

Kekkonen played for Finland's under-18 team in the 2017 Baltic Cup. He came on as a 75th minute sub in their opening match where Finland defeated Latvia 4–0.[15]

Philippines U23

He then played for the Philippines under-23 team at the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.[16] He made his debut on 25 October 2021, coming on as a 33rd minute substitute in their 3–0 loss to South Korea U23.[10] Kekkonen was included in the 20-man squad for 31st Southeast Asian Games, which was held in Vietnam.[17] Kekkonen scored his first goal for Philippines U23 in a 4–0 win against Timor-Leste.[18][19]

Philippines

Kekkonen was named in the Philippines' squad for the 2020 AFF Championship.[20] He made his senior international debut on 8 December 2021 as a substitute in their 2–1 loss to hosts Singapore.[21][22][23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Profile" (in Finnish). FC Lahti. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Match Report: AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers, Korea Republic v. Philippines". stats.the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation (AFC). 25 October 2021. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. ^ Värekoski, Vertti (21 December 2021). "Karhusta katukoiraksi – Oskari Kekkonen toteuttaa jalkapallounelmaansa Filippiineillä". Byyri [fi] (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Kekkonen seuraa Kuninkaan viitoittamaa tietä: "Aina olen sopeutunut ympäristöön"" (in Finnish). ESS. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  5. ^ Oskari Kekkonen at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Oskari Kekkonen palaa raitapaitaan" (in Finnish). KTP. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. ^ SJK U20, sjk.fi, 7 April 2019
  8. ^ a b Profile at SPL, palloliitto.fi
  9. ^ Kotkalainen Oskari Kekkonen siirtyy PEPO Lappeenrantaan — "Hän on edelleen nuori pelaaja ja melkoinen täydennys keskikentällemme", kymensanomat.fi, 4 September 2019
  10. ^ a b Morilla, Juro (25 October 2021). "Azkals U23 start off Asian Cup qualification with crushing loss to Korea". Rappler. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  11. ^ Del Carmen, Lorenzo (19 November 2021). "Kenshiro Daniels goal sinks ADT, secures Copa Alcantara title for Kaya". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Kaya FC-Iloilo Signs Azkals Midfielder Oskari Kekkonen – Kaya FC–Iloilo".
  13. ^ Edustus, pk35 (20 January 2023). "PK-35 vahvistuu kahdella uudella pelaajalla!".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "ลำพูน เปิดตัว "ออสคารี เคกโคเน่น"ดีกรีทีมชาติฟิลิปปินส์ร่วมทัพ". 2 July 2023. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  15. ^ "U18-pojat avasivat Baltic Cupin komealla voitolla" (in Finnish). Palloliitto. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  16. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (22 October 2021). "Azkals vie for Asian Cup U-23 slot in Singapore qualifiers". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Philippines Under-23 Squad For The 31st Southeast Asian Games". Philippine Football Federation. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Philippines U23 4–0 Timor-Leste U23". Philippine Football Federation. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Philippines take lead in Group A". ASEAN Football Federation. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  20. ^ Rosal, Dale (2 December 2021). "Azkals arrive in SG for Suzuki Cup". CDN Digital. Inquirer Group. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  21. ^ "Oskari Kekkonen". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  22. ^ Morilla, Juro (9 December 2021). "'Silly 3 minutes': Azkals coach rues slip in Suzuki Cup opener". Rappler. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  23. ^ Oskari Kekkonen on his Azkals Debut (YouTube video). The Philippine Azkals (Philippines national football team). 10 December 2021.