20 Facts About Joel Lindpere

Joel Lindpere was born on 5 October 1981 and is an Estonian football coach and former professional player.

Joel Lindpere made 107 appearances for the Estonia national team, scoring 7 goals.

Joel Lindpere then moved to Lelle, and scored 5 goals in 23 appearances with the club.

In February 2005, Joel Lindpere was loaned to Bulgarian A Group club CSKA Sofia for the remainder of the season.

In September 2006, Joel Lindpere was released from the club after an incident with a 4th referee in a Cup match against Levadia.

Joel Lindpere's contract was for two years with options for two additional years.

Joel Lindpere scored his first goal for the club in a friendly against Santos FC on 20 March 2010, becoming the first player to score a goal at the new Red Bull Arena.

Joel Lindpere followed this up with the Red Bulls first goal of the 2010 Major League Soccer season, scoring the winning goal of the season opener against the Chicago Fire.

On 22 July 2010, Joel Lindpere played in the Red Bulls friendly against Tottenham Hotspur where he sent a low cross in to the 6 yard box which New York Red Bulls new signing, Thierry Henry, cleverly clipped past the goalkeeper to score his first goal for the club.

At mid-season, he was added to the 2010 MLS All-Star roster as an inactive member for the match against Manchester United FC, and the end of the season Joel Lindpere was named 2010 Most Valuable Player for New York Red Bulls.

Joel Lindpere was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 16 of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.

Joel Lindpere set team season records in games played, games started, and minutes played.

Joel Lindpere signed a multi-year contract extension with New York on 31 January 2012.

On 4 January 2013, Joel Lindpere was traded to Chicago Fire in exchange for an international roster spot.

Joel Lindpere joined Czech club Banik Ostrava in January 2014 on a deal until 30 June 2016.

Joel Lindpere returned to Estonia and on 5 March 2015, Estonian transfer window deadline day, signed for his first club, Nomme Kalju.

Joel Lindpere made his international debut for Estonia on 1 November 1999, when he was 18 years old, in a friendly match against United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, when he substituted Andres Oper in the 46th minute.

However, after Estonia finished in second place in Group C in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying in October 2011, Joel Lindpere left the door open to return to the national team for their play-off series against Ireland.

Joel Lindpere stated that his decision to play would heavily depend on whether his club team qualified for the MLS play-offs and that they were his main priority at the moment.

Joel Lindpere finished his international career with a testimonial match on 1 June 2016 against Andorra, having made 107 appearances and scoring 7 goals.