Raio Piiroja

Infobox Football biography
playername = Raio Piiroja


fullname = Raio Piiroja
height = Height|m=1.90
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|7|11
cityofbirth = Pärnu, Estonian SSR
countryofbirth = USSR
currentclub = flagicon|Norway Fredrikstad FK
clubnumber = 9
position = Centre back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1995–1996
1997–1999
1999–2004
2003
2004–
clubs = JK Tervis Pärnu
Lelle SK
FC Flora Tallinn
→ Vålerenga IF (loan)
Fredrikstad FK
caps(goals) = 8 (1)
20 (3)
102 (14)
11 (1)
68 (6)
nationalyears = 1998–
nationalteam = flagicon|Estonia Estonia
nationalcaps(goals) = 77 (6)
pcupdate = November 16, 2007
ntupdate = September 6, 2008

Raio Piiroja (born July 11, 1979 in Pärnu) is an Estonian professional footballer, who plays in Norwegian Tippeligaen, for Fredrikstad FK. He plays the position of centre back and is also a member of the Estonia national football team.

Club career

He started his career in Pärnu before joining FC Flora Tallinn under then manager Teitur Thordarson. He then joined Vålerenga IF in Norway on loan before signing a permanent contract with Fredrikstad. In season 2006, he scored two goals in the Norwegian Football Cup final against Sandefjord Fotball in a 3:0 victory.

International career

For Estonia, Piiroja is capped 77 times, scoring 6 goals. For national team he often plays in the centre of defence, with Andrei Stepanov.

Career stats

Honours

Club

* FC Flora Tallinn
** Estonian Top Division: 2001, 2002
*** Runners Up: 2000
** Estonian Cup
*** Runners Up: 2001
** Estonian SuperCup: 2002
*** Runners Up: 1999
* Fredrikstad FK
** Norwegian Cup: 2006

Individual

* Estonian Footballer of the Year: 2002, 2006, 2007

External links

* [http://www.fredrikstadfk.no/component/option,com_joomleague/func,showPlayer/p,8/pid,232/Itemid,95/ Fredrikstad FK profile]