Alexander Ring

HJK

He signed for HJK's reserve team Klubi-04 in 2009, and represented them until being promoted to the first team, and signed full professional contract with the club in August 2010. However, Ring was loaned out to Tampere United for the rest of that season. He returned to HJK after the season, and was established as the first choice holding midfielder for HJK in early 2011. On 26 September 2011, he signed a contract extension with HJK, keeping him in the Finnish capital until 2015. During December 2011, it was rumored that German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach were interested in signing the young Finn for approximately €1 million.

Borussia Mönchengladbach (loan)

On 5 January 2012, it was announced that Mönchengladbach had signed Ring on loan until the summer 2013, with having an option to buy at the end of the season. The estimated loan fee was reported to be €500,000. On 10 March 2012, Ring made his Bundesliga debut for Mönchengladbach against Freiburg, and on 21 August Ring scored his first goal for Mönchengladbach in a 3–1 defeat to Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv in the first leg of 2012–13 UEFA Champions League's playoff-round. However, despite some encouraging displays for the club, Ring soon fell out of favour, and in February 2013 it was announced that Borussia would not use their option to buy the player.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In June 2013, he signed a contract with 1. FC Kaiserslautern to play in 2. Bundesliga. The clubs did not…

Ring's convincing performances in the Finnish League Cup and the Veikkausliiga earned him a call-up to the new coach Mixu Paatelainen's first gathering of the Finland national football team in May 2011. He made his senior national team debut on 7 June 2011 in 5–0 defeat against Sweden. On 11 October 2011, Finnish star Roman Eremenko described Ring as a soon-to-be key player in the Finland national football team, saying: "I knew Alex when he came to the national team, but I hadn't seen any of his games before. When he came, it was immediately obvious that he is here to stay. He plays without fear." He established himself as a regular in the national team during Finland's qualification campaign for the UEFA Euro 2012. Ring scored his first goal for the national team on 26 March 2013 in Luxembourg in a match against Luxembourg. His second international goal came from a direct freekick vs. Iceland in a WC qualifier in September 2017. In September 2018, Ring announced his retirement from international football.

Ring was born in Finland and moved to Bonn, Germany, with his family when aged three, and grew up there and in Belgium. Ring went through the ranks of Bayer 04 Leverkusen before returning to Finland with his family in 2008.

Ring doesn't have German citizenship, even though he has lived most of his life in Germany. In Maali! 3/2011 he stated: "I have not even applied for German citizenship. It has been obvious for me that I represent Finland". Ring is married with two daughters. In March 2018, Ring earned a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.