Saunas, Snow, and Jalkapallo- An American in Finland Part 2

Continued from Part 1

My yearning for home quickly dissipated as the excitement of being in a new country with a fresh challenge ahead swepped over me. This was a big move. I spent a lot of money to come all the way out here to chase my dream, and I needed it to pay off.

Mikko Sivonen met me at the airport. He and his family are missionaries with the International Missions Board from the US. Before I came out, I had gotten in touch with them in the hopes of helping out when I was free from football. He was gracious enough to offer me a place to stay. I owe him and his family a great debt of gratitude, and he has become one of my closest friends.

That first day went by pretty quickly. I was not too jetlagged yet, and I actually found the energy to join Mikko in a game of floor hockey with his friends. Let me tell you, my future in floor hockey is not near as bright as my future in football (come to think of it, I'm not exactly sure how bright my future in football is, haha). I even managed to sleep fine that first night.

The following day I got a brief tour of Helsinki, although it was incredibly cold at -10 C. Later in the afternoon, I would have my first training session with Atlantis FC. It would certainly be a nice test for me. I had never played outdoors in weather like this before so it was definitely interesting. Some jetlag also began to creep in, and midway through the training session, I really felt myself getting tired.

But I managed to hold my own, and performed much better then I anticipated for my first session. In fact, I had done so well that they had already begun talking about a contract, although nothing concrete was offered. I continued training that week with the team, putting in some solid performances despite the increasing lack of sleep. The 8 hour time difference was really starting to wear on me.

The real test of the this trial came on the following Saturday. I would face my first match in Finland against Veikkausliiga side Viikingit. I began the game at left back, although I was told that I would probably move forward into one of the wing forward positions in a 4-3-3 system at some point.

That point came a bit quicker then I anticipated, however. We went down 1-0 about 15 minutes in. Unfortunately, I was outjumped to a cross and the opposing player was able to head the ball in. Soon after I was moved forward, and really started playing some good football. My movement off the ball seemed to create a bit of havoc in the Viikingit defense, and holes were opening up. I managed to find one of those holes just before half time, as a ball was played through for me. I managed to win the race to the ball with the goalkeeper and easily placed the ball into an open net. It came at a cost, however, as the goalkeeper bundled into me and I straiend my groin.

I started the second half despite the strain, but only managed about 10 minutes when the coach felt it was better for me to take it easy. We managed to tie the game 2-2, and after the match I was offered a contract. It was an incredible relief, and I felt a great sense of pride at achieving my goal so quickly.

As for my first reaction to Finnish football, it really wasn't too much different then what I was used to. The pace of the game was a little quicker and it was more physical then in the US, and in the US I would say that it is a bit more technical, but nothing so durastic as to make a huge difference. It was quite similar and I fit into the role quite easily. This game was played with the ball on the ground, which was a bit shocking to me. I was expecting a bit more of a direct style (This is actually particularly strange because Viikingit is probably one of the more direct teams in the Veikkausliiga). But it was certainly a welcome shock as I prefer nice, tidy, quick football rather then long ball as I tend to struggle sometimes with balls in the air.

There was a minimal crowd at the game, but that wasn't disheartening as it was hardly advertised and it was still very early in preseason. My first taste of a real crowd would come a few weeks later at the Lahti Cup.

To be continued...