in June 2007. In the match, an eagle-owl flew onto the field and the game was stopped for a while. The nickname Eagle-owls of the Finnish national team originated from this event. Helmet Tihinen injured his head many times during his career. Because of that he wore a helmet during his last seasons. He was also very good with his head, which he used to score most of his goals. Post-playing career After retiring, Tihinen joined FC Zürich as a deputy sports director. On 13 April 2012, he announced his candidacy to run for the new president of the Football Association of Finland, as the post was left open after Sauli Niinistö was elected as President of Finland. In the years 2012-2014, Tihinen was the chairman of the Finnish Football Players´ Association. After his career, Tihinen has studied international leadership and management at the UEFA Academy and at the Aalto University in Helsinki and since 2014, he has been the technical director of the Football Association of Finland. Career statistics Scores and results list Finland’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tihinen goal. Honours HJK Veikkausliiga: 1997 Finnish Cup: 1998 Finnish League Cup: 1997, 1998 The best defender of the Finnish Veikkausliiga 1999 Viking Norwegian Cup: 2001 Anderlecht Belgian First Division: 2003–04, 2005–06 Zürich Swiss Super League: 2007, 2009 The best defender in the Swiss Axpo Super League 2009 References External links Profile at FA of Finland's official website Profile at FC Zürich's official website 1976 births Living people Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Association football central defenders Veikkausliiga players Eliteserien players Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Swiss Super League players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Viking FK players West Ham United F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players FC Zürich players Finnish expatriate footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland People from Keminmaa Sportspeople from Lapland (Finland)