Raio Piiroja

Early career

Piiroja started playing football with his hometown club Rivaal, before moving to Pärnu. He made his Meistriliiga debut on 16 July 1995, five days after his 16th birthday, against Eesti Põlevkivi in the opening match of the season. 10 days later, on 26 July 1995, Piiroja scored his first goal in the Meistriliiga in a 4–2 defeat against Narva Trans and became the youngest goalscorer in Meistriliiga history at the age of 16 years and 15 days.

Flora

In 1996, Piiroja joined Lelle, a team affiliated with Flora. He played for Lelle from 1997 until 1999, when he was promoted to Flora's first team. With Flora, Piiroja won his first Meistriliiga title in the 2001 season. He won his second consecutive Meistriliiga title in the 2002 season and was named Estonian Player of the Year for the first time.

Vålerenga (loan)

In 2003, Piiroja joined Norwegian Tippeligaen side Vålerenga on loan.

Fredrikstad

In August 2004, Piiroja signed a contract with Tippeligaen side Fredrikstad. On 12 November 2006, he scored twice in the 2006 Norwegian Football Cup Final against Sandefjord as Fredrikstad won 3–0. In 2007, Piiroja extended his contract for four more years. During his time with Fredrikstad, Piiroja won four consecutive Estonian Player of the Year awards, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Fredrikstad finished the 2009 season in 14th place and were relegated from the Tippeligaen after a 2–0 loss against Sarpsborg 08 in the play-offs. Fredrikstad…

Piiroja made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 21 November 1998, in a 2–1 loss against Armenia in a friendly, replacing Viktor Alonen in the 85th minute of the match. Piiroja soon established himself as Estonia's first choice centre-back. In 2008, he succeeded Martin Reim as team captain. On 25 March 2011, Piiroja made his 100th appearance in a 2–0 win over Uruguay in a friendly. He was sent off by referee Viktor Kassai in the 76th minute of the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-off against Republic of Ireland, which Estonia went on to lose 5–1 on aggregate. Piiroja ended his international career in October 2013, but made one final appearance for Estonia on 31 March 2015, in his testimonial match against Iceland. He made a total of 114 appearances and scored 8 goals.

Club

International

Scores and results list Estonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Piiroja goal.

Piiroja married his long-time girlfriend Marje in 2005. They divorced in 2015. Outside of football, Piiroja enjoys skiing and is an avid fisherman. On 1 June 2016, Piiroja released his autobiography, Ninamees Raio Piiroja, õhuvõitleja, written by sports journalist Gunnar Press.