Södermalm’s summer Monday is teeming with people at lunchtime. Many carry cardboard cups in their hands, and everyone seems to be in a hurry. Despite the heat, no one seems to have compromised on style in the hipster part of town.
Soon a familiar figure appears in the street scene. Anna Tamminen rides his bike through the center of the busiest Götgatan, with the iconic Globen flashing in the background for Finns, and greets happily.
The little girl next to her starts screaming. He says that he plays in Hammarby and carefully asks if a group photo would work.
– Sure! Tamminen gasps and soon a selfie is saved on the girl’s cell phone.
One has to ask if this is everyday life for the Finnish goalkeeper.
– I’m rarely stopped, but sometimes it hurts.
Sometimes the supporters ask for a group photo or a selfie, other times they just want to wish them a good time at the game. The attention still seems confusing to Tammis, even though she only has positive experiences from the encounters.
– I think it’s just wonderful!
Tamminen praises the club’s passionate supporters, who also follow the team to away games. The team’s average viewership is also the highest in Damallsvenskan. Last season, the average number of spectators was 2,391.
After the game preceding the interview, he gave his goalkeeper’s glove to a little girl who had been waiting for Tamm outside the home stadium for a long time even after the end of the match.
– He was so happy. It’s sickly cool that I can give of myself with such a small amount and make someone so happy!
Tammi always seems to have time for her supporters. He is often the last to sign autographs and chat with fans.
And his immediate, cheerful personality is not the only reason why Tamminen has become a fan favorite.
The Finnish keeper’s saves are one important factor, which is why the Stockholm club is fighting for the league championship. On Saturday, the team has a chance to pass Häcken alone to the top of the league, if they win Emmi Alanen Kristianstad.
Tamminen has already kept a clean sheet in seven consecutive matches, for a total of 700 minutes, which is the record of the main league Damallsvenskan this season.
It’s no wonder that Tammise has become a fan favorite. He has his own chant based on Shakira’s Waka-Waka song, and stickers with his face have been pasted all over Södermalm.
A late riser goalkeeper
When he was younger, Tamminen did not imagine that he would support himself as a football player.
To tell the truth, he didn’t even dream of being a football player when he was little. He discovered the sport at the age of 10, but played more as a hobby.
When he was younger, Tamminen belonged to the district team, but did not want to continue in the regional team. He made it to the U18 and U19 teams again, but then stayed on the beach. When the hand was still broken, faith was tested, but Tamminen decided to continue.
– I think futs has always been really nice. I continued because it was nice to go to training and the team was nice. But it was just a hobby and not professional at any level, I had no such goals, Tamminen begins.
– However, I have always been so competitive and wanted to get the best out of myself. Maybe my training has always been hard. Even if we had team training three times a week, I’ve always done a lot of work independently because I’ve liked to challenge myself.
Tamminen made his league debut relatively late, in his twenties, in the ranks of NiceFutis from Pori. A place in the league suddenly opened up and re-ignited a different kind of fire towards football.
Tamminen also feels that he has benefited from the fact that he has not aimed for the top with gritted teeth. After high school, he studied to become a physiotherapist, and his studies have been useful, especially during the time of his injuries.
– If you think about young players who play professionally early and get paid, it’s really cool in a certain way. But I would probably have taken the terrible pressure that the performances have to be in line with the one who deserves his salary. It’s hard for young people, I really hope that they know how to support them in matters of the spiritual side as well.
He himself realized that the grits could be enough to reach the top during his first visit abroad. In the 2017 season, Tamminen played in Elitettan in the ranks of Hovås Billdal.
– I couldn’t find a company for myself in Finland, and moving to Sweden was the only chance to stay at a higher level. It was kind of a turning point, even though I was working full time and playing at the second highest league level. When I moved alone to another country, I got the feeling that let’s try!
After that, he returned to Finland, where he was chosen three times as the best goalkeeper of the National League. He headed to Hammarby in Sweden at the end of the 2020 season after celebrating the double championship with Åland United.
Three years ago, Hammarby was not one of Sweden’s top women’s teams. The men’s and women’s representative teams have belonged to the same organization since 2017. More seriously, the club started investing in the women’s team in 2019, when the men’s assistant coach Pablo Piñones-Arce became the women’s head coach.
The following year, the team rose from Elitettan back to the main league. At the same time, the Swedish club got a Finnish keeper for their goal.
Tamminen and Hammarby’s first season together ended in seventh place.
– When I came, I didn’t know what to expect. Things have progressed really quickly for us, the club wants to invest in women’s football and it is of course nice to be involved in the project. I’ve had a really, really good time, the Finnish keeper assures.
Without football, Tamminen would hardly have chosen the hectic metropolis of her western neighbor as her place of residence, but Stockholm has also found the peace of nature. And the sea next to it offers an opportunity for a favorite pastime: swimming before home games, summers and winters.
When Tamminen joined the club, he still worked part-time alongside playing. Something about the goalkeeper’s cool-headedness says that the job involved driving a truck through Stockholm’s crowded, narrow streets.
After the first season, Tamminen hasn’t had to get behind the wheel of a truck.
Södermalm has not been selected as an interview location just because Hammarby’s home stadium is located there. There are vegan cafes that are better than each other, which are also suitable for the special diet of the Finnish guard, but Tamminen has just eaten.
He always has lunch together with the team on weekdays. The days start at nine with a meeting, followed by exercises that last a little less than two and a half hours. The working day of a football professional ends at two o’clock in the afternoon.
Investing in football alone has been seen on the field. Tamminen was already one of the best goalkeepers in the series last season.
– I have developed a lot during the time I have been here. When I moved, the tempo was much harder, there are a lot of skilled players. If I compare to the first season, I have gained a certain confidence. It affects how you go into games and how you can play comfortably.
At the same time, Hammarby’s rankings have only increased. Last year, the ranking in the series was fifth. This summer, Hammarby already celebrated the victory of the Swedish Cup.
Before the weekend’s round, Hammarby led the series on equal points with Häcken and is therefore fighting for the double championship.
– To be honest, I probably didn’t think that the season would be this good. On the other hand, we have tried to keep an attitude within the team that we are still chasing, and we are not the team that is being chased.
– We are constantly looking ahead to the next match, which we must win. We need to score a lot of goals because we are currently leading on goal difference. We haven’t won anything in the series yet.
The Finnish keeper does not mince his words when praising the coach.
– Pablo has a good balance, he is an authority, but approachable. He cares about the players as a person, might take a player aside and ask how you are doing. It’s one of his best qualities.
Tamminen’s skills have also been noticed in the national team. Captain Tinja-Riikka Korpela has carried Minna Meriluoton after finishing in practice, the first goalkeeper refers, and the responsibility for the other goalkeepers is not exactly divided when Korpela is in good condition.
Tamminen was on the sidelines for the national matches in July due to injury, but in the first competitive match he finally got responsibility against Romania in the second match of the Nations League on the away field.
Finland went into the match as overwhelming favorites, but the match played in the potato field in Bucharest was challenging for the goalkeeper. However, Tamminen kept his goal clean, topper Elli Pikkujämsän with great help.
As the performances continue, Tamminen seriously challenges Korpela as the team’s number one goalkeeper.
– Of course, I hope that I will get more responsibility in the future. It would be cool to be the national team’s number one goalkeeper!
Anna Tamm was interviewed in connection with the Swedish Cup final in June. The story has been updated with fresh comments. Hammarby’s women will face Kristianstad at home on Saturday, October 7. Helmarit will next face Croatia in the Nations League on October 27. You can watch the match live on channels.
Story edited on 7.10. 9:35 a.m.: Tamminen’s 700 minutes is the Damallsvenskan’s record this season.