Finland captain Tinja-Riikka Korpela announces an international retirement

This is the end of an era of the history of the Finland women’s national team, as a longtime captain and goalkeeper, Tinja-Riikka Korpela, announced her international retirement.

The 39-year-old played 128 appearances for the Boreal Owls, the last of which came in the 3-0 victory in April on Hungary in the UEFA Women’s League.

She was a member of the Finland team, who brought a place in the quarter -finals of Euro 2025 for UEFA women, but was an unused substitute for group A of group A of her team.

Having played for the national team at the level of young people, Korpela made his senior debut in 2007 against Sweden and had made the number one shirt when Finland welcomed the Women’s 2009 2009, where they reached the last eight.

She also appeared in euros in 2013 and 2022, bringing the captain’s armband to the latter, a year after having made her 100th appearance in a qualification of the FIFA Women’s World Cup against Georgia.

“I have been able to be part of this for a long time; 18 years in the national female team and in addition to the years in the national youth team, so I have been carrying the Finland shirt for more than 20 years. It was an incredibly important honor for me,” Korpela told the Finlander FA.

The veteran intends to continue playing at the club level. In 2024, she joined Swiss Siss Servette, after playing for Roma, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Bayern Munich.

“Now, it’s time to put my national team game on the backstil. My body can no longer do what my head wants and my head cannot bear that my body cannot,” she said.

“I can say that the boreaux owls are in good hands in the future. And I am sure that we will hear more about this team!”

“Thank you all. For everything,” She concluded.

Follow these last stages of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 on Flashscore.