Joel Perovuo

Joel Iljits Perovuo (born 11 August 1985) is a Finnish football coach and a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach of Honka. Besides Finland, he also played in Sweden and Poland.

Career

Perovuo began his career with Espoon PS in the youth side, before moving to FC Honka. He gradually became an important player in the Honka team. In December 2009, Djurgården announced that Perovuo had signed with the Swedish team.

On 12 August 2011 it was announced that Perovuo had signed for the reigning Finnish champions, HJK, for 2 1⁄2 years. He made his debut for HJK on 18 August as he came on as a substitute in a 2–0 home victory over Schalke in the Europa League playoff-round.

In 2015, Perovuo returned to FC Honka after the team was relegated to Kakkonen due to financial problems.

International career

On 11 October 2009, Perovuo was called up by the Finland national team. He made his first appearance for Finland at senior level in a 0–2 friendly loss against South Korea on 18 January 2010. He was in the starting line-up, but was replaced by Paulus Arajuuri in the 84th minute.