Today, Juhani Pikkarainen is Huuhkajie’s debutant in the top trio.
26-year-old Pikkarainen plays Veikkausliiga in Ilves. This fall, he received his first invitations to the national team.
Pikkarainen has come a long way to this point, as already in 2015 he went to Austria and Salzburg as a top prospect of the Turku Ball Club.
His career in Austria didn’t take off even on loan, but Pikkarainen returned to Finland in 2018. He has since played for KPV, TPS, VPS and Ilves.
He said recently in Helsingin Sanomatwhy didn’t he rise to the top until later in life. When he was even younger, he didn’t realize, for example, that he used enough help from physical trainers and other experts. He was content to just participate in the training.
– I have always had others to catch up to in terms of fitness. For example, in basic strength and mobility and explosiveness. Of course, we practiced a lot of things then and I improved a lot. But I could have developed a few percent more when it was possible, Pikkarainen told HS.
Since then, the topper has rapidly gained more weight, strength, sharpness, explosiveness and many other properties. Today we’ll see what it’s enough for at the national team level…