Matti Lähitie (born 13 February 1985) is a Finnish professional football coach and a former player. He played as a defender or defensive midfielder.

Matti Lähitie
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-02-13) 13 February 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Pori, Finland
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 FC Jazz 40 (2)
2005–2006 Lahti 10 (0)
2006 VPS Vaasa 6 (0)
2007–2010 JJK 68 (3)
2010PoPa (loan) 4 (0)
2011–2013 SJK 60 (4)
2014–2017 JJK 59 (1)
Managerial career
2022 Finland U-21 (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Lähitie started his football career at Finnish club FC Jazz, where he made his league debut at the age of just seventeen years old. In total he made forty appearances at FC Jazz between 2002 and 2004, scoring twice.

In 2005, he signed with FC Lahti who were playing in Veikkausliiga at the time. Lähitie saw this as a step-up in his career, with Finland internationals such as Jari Litmanen, Pekka Lagerblom and Mika Väyrynen also playing for Lahti.

In 2006 Lähitie moved to his third Finnish club, JJK playing in the Ykkönen.

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