Jyri Nieminen was San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper coach from 2018-19. (Photo courtesy of the Red Bulls)

HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls named Jyri Nieminen goalkeeper coach, the club announced Thursday.

Nieminen joins the club from the Orlando Pirates Football Club in South Africa. Prior to his time there, Nieminen served as the goalkeeper coach for the San Jose Earthquakes in 2018 and 2019.

“I am particularly pleased to welcome Jyri to our team,” Red Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber said in a statement. “Jyri will drive the development of our goalkeepers with his expertise and experience. His approach is very future-oriented and promising.”

Nieminen played five professional seasons in his native Finland before transitioning to coaching. He got his start with the Finnish Football Association and spent time with several Finnish clubs before joining the Estonia youth national team setup.

In 2015 Nieminen joined the Aspire Academy and Qatar Under-17 team coaching staff, spending three years in Qatar before joining the Earthquakes coaching staff.

“I am extremely proud and excited to join the New York Red Bulls, a club with such a strong identity on and off the field,” Nieminen said in a statement. “As soon as the opportunity to join RBNY appeared, I knew that I would do all I can to get this position, because I see it as a perfect place to learn and be successful. I can’t wait to get the work started with this dynamic and energetic staff and even more than that, to get on the field with the players.”

Nieminen holds his UEFA B license, UEFA A Goalkeeping license, and USSF A Goalkeeping license, which he earned in 2018.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.