Clubs: Myllykosken Pallo-47, Willem II, Liverpool FC, Bayer 04 Leverkusen

UEFA honours
UEFA Champions League: winner 2005, runner-up 2007
UEFA Cup: winner 2001
UEFA Super Cup: winner 2001, 2005
UEFA.com users' Team of the Year: 2001

• Twice a winner of the Finnish Cup with his first club MyPa (in 1992 and 1995), Hyypiä left for the Netherlands in late 1995, joining Willem II, where he remained for three and a half seasons, captaining the club in the last of them as they qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

• Won his first senior international cap for Finland on 7 November 1992 in a friendly against Tunisia and was an established international by the time he joined Liverpool in summer 1999 for €4.8m.

• Helped the Merseysiders win a cup treble in 2000/01 – FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup – to which they also added the UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield at the start of the following season.

• Appointed club captain in April 2002 but ceded the armband to Steven Gerrard 18 months later.

• Reached a career pinnacle in 2004/05, playing every minute of Liverpool's UEFA Champions League campaign, which ended in glory in Istanbul after a penalty shoot-out triumph against AC Milan in the final; runner-up in a repeat showpiece against Milan in Athens two years later.

• Ended a decade at Anfield – during which he made 459 appearances and became a Kop legend − by joining Leverkusen in 2009, shortly after which, as captain, he won his 100th cap for Finland.

• Proved his continued value in his late 30s and was voted player of the year by the Football Association of Finland (SPL-FBF) for a record-equalling ninth time in November 2010.

• Retired from the international scene with 105 caps and ended his playing days in May 2011; promptly joined the coaching staff of both Leverkusen and the Finnish national team.

• Hyypiä received a commemorative cap and medal from UEFA to mark his century of international appearances on Tuesday 6 September, before Finland's 2-0 defeat by the Netherlands in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.

• "Of course it's nice to receive this kind of award," said Hyypiä. "Looking back, 100 matches is a big number and I feel honoured to belong to a club of this kind. There are many happy memories from the many years I played for Finland. They are something I will never forget."