Raio Piiroja

Raio Piiroja
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-07-11) 11 July 1979
Place of birth Pärnu, Estonia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
Rivaal
Pärnu
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 Pärnu 8 (1)
1996–1999 Lelle 22 (3)
1999–2004 Flora 102 (17)
2000 → Tervis Pärnu (loan) 1 (0)
2001 → Valga (loan) 1 (0)
2003 → Vålerenga (loan) 11 (1)
2004–2011 Fredrikstad 158 (12)
2011–2012 Vitesse 2 (0)
2012 Flora 0 (0)
2013 Chengdu Blades 18 (1)
2014 Flora 0 (0)
2015 Pärnu Linnameeskond 0 (0)
Total 323 (35)
National team
1993 Estonia U16 2 (0)
1996–1997 Estonia U19 7 (0)
1997–1998 Estonia U21 13 (0)
1998–2015 Estonia 114 (9)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Raio Piiroja (born 11 July 1979 ) is a former professional footballer and current president of Pärnu Linnameeskond. Piiroja was named Estonian Footballer of the Year in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Internationally, Piiroja represented Estonia and was the team's captain. He made 114 appearances for the team, scoring 9 goals. He was known for his impressing ability in the air for winning headers.

Club career

Flora

Piiroja started his career in his hometown Pärnu before moving to the Tallinn side Flora, under then manager Teitur Thordarson. With Flora, Piiroja won two consecutive Meistriliiga titles in the 2001 and the 2002 seasons.

In 2003, he joined Norwegian side Vålerenga on loan.

Fredrikstad

In 2004, Piiroja signed a contract with Norwegian side Fredrikstad. In 2006, he scored two goals in the Norwegian Football Cup final against Sandefjord in a 3–0 victory. In 2010, Piiroja scored 2 goals in the Norwegian Premier League promotion play-offs against Hønefoss.

International career

Piiroja made his international debut for the Estonia national football team on 21 November 1998, at the age of 19, in a 1–2 defeat against Armenia, replacing Viktor Alonen at the 85th minute of the match. Piiroja became the national team captain after Mart Poom. He made his 100th appearance in a 2–0 friendly win over Uruguay and finished his international career in 2015, with 114 appearances and 9 goals scored.[1]

International goals

Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Piiroja goal.
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 4 September 1999 Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands4 Faroe Islands 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2 11 June 2000 Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia9  Georgia 1–0 1–0 Friendly
3 28 March 2001 Tsirion Athletic Centre, Limassol, Cyprus14  Cyprus 2–2 2–2 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 16 February 2004 Ta' Qali National Stadium, La Valletta, Malta43  Malta 2–2 2–5 2004 Malta Tournament
5 22 August 2007 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia68  Andorra 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
6 12 September 2007 Gradski Stadion Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia70  Macedonia 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
7 14 October 2009 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia91  Belgium 1–0 2–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 11 August 2010 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia97  Faroe Islands 2–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Personal life

Piiroja married his long-time girlfriend Marje in 2005. In 2011, Norwegian police launched an investigation into his former club Fredrikstad and Piiroja was charged with tax evasion.[2][3] Outside of football, Piiroja enjoys fishing and skiing.

Honours

Club

Flora
Fredrikstad

Individual

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.