Atik İsmail

Atik İsmail — Biography

Atik Ismail is a Finnish former footballer of Tatar descent, born on 5 January 1957 in Helsinki to a family that had emigrated from Moscow to Finland in the late 19th century. Deployed mainly as a forward, he earned 26 caps for Finland and scored 7 international goals.

He ranked among the most prolific strikers in Finland's top flight, finishing as the Mestaruussarja's leading scorer in 1978, 1979 and 1982, and was shortlisted for Finnish Footballer of the Year honors in 1978. His playing career also took him abroad, including spells in Turkey and Belgium, and in 2008 he was inducted into the Finnish Football Hall of Fame; after football he was also active in politics, coaching and writing.