Kanerva told Palloliito that the transfer process of Ståhl, who represents Djurgårdens IF in the club team, is underway.
Jaakko Servo,
Pertti Lappalainen
29-year-old Swedish defender of Djurgårdens IF Adam Ståhl told for Swedish media that he is interested in representing the Finnish men’s national football team.
The head coach of Huahkaji Markku Kanerva said recently For the football association of having been in contact with Ståhl.
– We got a tip from Ståhl’s camp that he has Finnish citizenship, but no passport yet. Of course, we put the player under surveillance and naturally also asked the opinion of the Finnish players at Djurgården, says Kanerva.
Finnish passport in back pocket
Djurgården’s Finnish player Rasmus Schuller hinted to Kanerva about Ståhl’s dual citizenship, after which Kanerva called Ståhl.
– I asked him directly about his interest and desire to represent Finland. He really had that, so we urged him to get a Finnish passport. In the past week, he had taken care of the passport issue, so Ståhl is now an option for the upcoming games in terms of licensing issues, Kanerva said.
The fullback’s mother is Finnish and the player has both a Swedish and now a Finnish passport. There are many Ståhl families living in Finland.
The 29-year-old Swedish defender has not yet played international matches in his career. In addition to Schüller, Ståhl’s Finnish teammates in Djurgården also have a defender Miro Tenho.
Ståhl has scored three goals in 18 matches in Allsvenskan this season and provided five assists leading to goals.
Kanerva releases the Huuhkajie team for the upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and England at the end of August. He is not yet predicting whether Ståhl will be in the team.
– It will be seen when the team name list is published. But of course the player is interested when we have been in contact with him, says Kanerva.
Huhkajat will meet Greece in Athens on September 7 and England in London on September 10.