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Casper Terho

Casper Terho
Terho at Union SG in 2024
Personal information
Full name Casper Mikael Terho
Date of birth (2003-06-24) 24 June 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Wing-back, winger
Team information
Current team
 Union SG
Number 17
Youth career
0000–2013 MPS
2013–2016 Puotinkylän Valtti
2017 PK-35
2017–2018 Kontu
2018–2020 HJK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2021 Klubi 04 27 (15)
2020–2022 HJK 41 (6)
2023– Union SG 36 (5)
International career‡
2018–2019 Finland U16 5 (3)
2019 Finland U17 6 (1)
2021–2022 Finland U19 8 (4)
2021– Finland U21 19 (4)
2024– Finland 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Casper Mikael Terho (born 24 June 2003) is a Finnish professional football player who plays for Belgian Pro League club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and the Finland national team.

Early career

Terho grew up in Vuosaari, East Helsinki,[1] and played football in the youth teams of Helsinki-based clubs Malmin Palloseura (MPS),[2] Puotinkylän Valtti, PK-35 and FC Kontu.[3] In 2018, when playing in a youth team of Kontu, he was spotted by two HJK academy coaches at the time, Miika Takkula and Jyrki Ahola, and later in the same year, he joined the youth academy of HJK Helsinki.[4]

Club career

HJK

Casper Terho made his professional debut for Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi on the 26 August 2020, coming on as a substitute in the Veikkausliiga 2-0 home win against Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho.[5][6] Along with other youngsters such as Kai Meriluoto, he played a few other games by the end of season, where his team ended up winning the 2020 championship.[7][8] He has also played for HJK reserve team Klubi 04 in third-tier Kakkonen and second-tier Ykkönen.[9]

Being already viewed as one of the brightest hopes from the Finnish champions academy, he scored his first goal in his 2021 season debuts, during the 4–2 home championship win against FC Honka on the 24 April 2021.[8] By the end of May, he became a regular starter with HJK, scoring another goal against Ilves, while still aged only 17.[10][11]

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise

On 29 September 2022, Belgian side Union SG announced that they had reached an agreement with HJK about his transfer. He joined the Belgian side on 1 January 2023 on a deal until 30 June 2026, for an undisclosed fee,[12] with HJK securing a sell-on clause.[13][4] He officially made his debut for the club on 8 January against Anderlecht, as a 77th minute substitute.[14] Terho scored his first goal for the club on 20 April 2023, in the first leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League quarter finals against Bayer Leverkusen. Despite his goal, his team lost the game 4–1 (5–2 on aggregate), and were eventually knocked out of the competition.[15] On 23 April 2023, Terho scored his first goals in the Jupiler Pro League, a brace in a 4–2 away win against Kortrijk.[16] In 2024, Terho and Union SG won the Belgian Cup and the Belgian Super Cup.

International career

Terho is a youth international for Finland, taking part in the 2020 Euro under-17 qualifications, where Finland topped their pool with Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova, although the final stage of the tournament was eventually canceled due to the covid pandemic.[17]

Terho played regularly for the Finnish under-17, under-19 and under-21 national teams, before making his senior debut for Finland on 4 June 2024, in a 4–2 friendly defeat against Portugal.[18]

In November 2024, Terho scored two goals for Finland U21 in the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs matches against Norway, helping Finland to win the pair 6–3 on aggregate and to qualify for the final tournament, for the second time in the nation's history.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of 8 November 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Klubi 04 2019 Kakkonen 5 3 0 0 — — — 5 3
2020 Kakkonen 10 9 0 0 1 1 — — 11 10
2021 Ykkönen 12 3 — — — — 12 3
Total 27 15 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 28 17
HJK 2020 Veikkausliiga 3 0 0 0 — — — 3 0
2021 Veikkausliiga 12 2 3 0 — 3[c] 0 — 18 2
2022 Veikkausliiga 26 4 2 1 3 0 6[d] 0 — 37 5
Total 41 6 5 1 3 0 9 0 0 0 58 7
Union SG 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 6 2 0 0 — 2[e] 1 — 8 3
2023–24 Belgian Pro League 21 3 3 0 — 8[c] 1 — 32 4
2024–25 Belgian Pro League 9 0 0 0 — 1[f] 0 1[g] 0 11 0
Total 36 5 3 0 0 0 11 2 1 0 51 7
Career total 104 27 8 1 4 1 20 2 1 0 137 31
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup and Belgian Cup
  2. ^ Includes Kakkonen Cup and Finnish League Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  7. ^ Includes Belgian Super Cup

International

As of match played 7 June 2024
Finland
Year Apps Goals
2024 2 0
Total 2 0

Honours

HJK Helsinki

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise

References

  1. ^ Vuosaarelainen futistaituri Casper Terho siirtyy pitkällä sopimuksella Belgian pääsarjaan, Vuosaari-lehti, 4 October 2022
  2. ^ Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty marraskuun otteluihin, Finnish FA, 7 November 2023
  3. ^ Tulospalvelu Palloliitto C.Terho, player profile, Finnish FA/ Palloliitto
  4. ^ a b Casper Terho siirtyy Belgian pääsarjaan, hjk.fi, 27 September 2022
  5. ^ Salmensaari, Antti (26 August 2020). "HJK palasi Veikkausliigan kärkeen, SJK:n voitoton putki on hervoton – näin Veikkausliigassa pelattiin keskiviikkona". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b Casper Terho at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  7. ^ Hellanto, Riku (21 October 2020). "HJK:ssa kypsyy uusia taitavia huippulupauksia, nuoret lahjakkuudet kärkkyvät omaa läpimurtoaan – "Vaikeampaa kuin jossain muussa seurassa"". MTV3 (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b Knuuttila, Mikko (24 April 2021). "Video: HJK:n 17-vuotias superlupaus naulasi huippuviihdyttävän Metroderbyn voiton – Honka joutui pettymään". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  9. ^ "tulospalvelu". Palloliitto.
  10. ^ Uusitupa, Ismo (11 May 2021). "17-vuotias Casper Terho laukoi yläkulmaan: HJK onnistui jokaisesta maalipaikastaan tyhjässä Ratinassa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  11. ^ Oivio, Janne (17 May 2021). "Casper Terhon nimi muistiin! Asiantuntija lataa kovaa tekstiä 17-vuotiaasta sensaatiosta". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Casper Terho will join Union SG from January 2023". rusg.brussels. 29 September 2022. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  13. ^ Confirmed transfer: Union Saint-Gilloise signs Casper Terho, OneFootball
  14. ^ "RSC Anderlecht 1-3 RUSG". sofascore.com. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen cruise into UEFA Europa League semi-finals after beating Union Saint-Gilloise". Bundesliga.com. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  16. ^ "KORTRIJK VS. UNION SAINT-GILLOISE 2–4". soccerway. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  17. ^ "U17-pojat kaatoi Moldovan ja vei EM-alkukarsintalohkon voiton". Suomen Palloliitto (in Finnish). 1 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  18. ^ Teemu Pukin maalit Huuhkajien ilonaihe, Portugali täysin ylivoimainen, Yle, 4 June 2024
  19. ^ Se on siinä! Pikkuhuuhkajat lunasti paikan EM-kisoissa, MTV Oy, mtvuutiset.fi, 19 November 2024
  20. ^ "Casper Terho". flashscore.
  21. ^ Belgian Cup finalists
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_Terho