Taavi Aulis Rytkönen is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 legend. He became the country's first professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

 player when he signed for France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

's Toulouse FC

Toulouse FC (1937)

Toulouse Football Club was a French association football team playing in the city of Toulouse, Haute-Garonne. The team was founded in 1937 and disappeared in 1967, in a merge with Red Star Olympique. Even though this team held the same name as Toulouse's current main club , the two teams are not to...

 in 1952.

In total Rytkönen spent eight seasons (1952–1960) in France, winning the French Cup

Coupe de France

The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

 in 1957. A forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, he started his career in Finland with KuPS Kuopio

KuPS

Kuopion Palloseura is a Finnish football club, based in the 8th most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. The team plays its home matches at Kuopion keskuskenttä...

 in 1945, and after returning from France he worked as player-coach of HJK Helsinki

HJK Helsinki

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi , internationally known as HJK Helsinki, is a Finnish football club, based in the capital Helsinki...

 1960–1966 and as coach 1967–1971.

Rytkönen earned 37 caps for the Finnish national team

Finland national football team

The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland....

, scoring seven goals. He played for Finland at the 1952 Summer Olympics

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. He also worked as national coach from 1975 to 1978. He was chosen Finland's Player of the Year in 1949, 1950, and 1952.