Aki Pasinpoika Riihilahti (born
September 9 1976 in
Helsinki) is a
Finnish footballer who currently plays for
Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish
Allsvenskan. He is known as a hard working,
defensive midfielder. Riihilahti started his career at
HJK where he made his
Veikkausliiga debut in 1995. He won the Finnish championship once and the
Finnish Cup twice with HJK, and also gained
UEFA Champions League experience in the
1998-99 season. Riihilahti then moved to
Norway's
Vålerenga I.F. for the
1999 season. After two seasons in Norway he joined
England's
Crystal Palace in 2001, and eventually became a fans' favourite at the club. In Palace's
2004-05 Premiership season he showed he has what it takes to play in one of
Europe's top leagues. Aki was so loved by the Crystal Palace faithful that a Finnish flag with the legend 'AKI 15' across the centre was hung behind one of the Selhurst Park goals for the entire Premiership season. However, his next season, back in the
Championship, following Palace's relegation, was not so successful because injuries limited his chances, despite not playing for most of his last season Aki has the Palace record for winning the most caps for his country whilst at Palace. After his contract with Palace expired in the summer of 2006, he was picked up by
Kaiserslautern on a one-year deal. In June 2007, Riihilathi signed a two and a half year deal with Stockholm club
Djurgårdens IF.
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