Thanks to his four hits on Monday, Joel Pohjanpalo shares the top spot in the Italian Serie B goal exchange. Venezia FC, which he represents, has hurt from the brink of relegation to struggle for promotion to the main league.
Finnish national team soccer player Joel Pohjanpalo was the great hero of the Italian club Venezia FC in the 5-0 crushing against Modena in the match of Serie B, Italy’s second highest league level, on May Day.
Pohjanpalo, 28, managed to score four times. The last goal came from a spot ten minutes before the end of the actual playing time.
– An incredible day for both the team and myself. Sometimes everything just clicks and yesterday happened to be such a day. A wonderful 5–0 victory in a place where a victory was needed, Pohjanpalo is happy.
The crowd chanted Pohjanpalo’s name when the Finnish striker moved to watch the last minutes of the match from the bench shortly after his fourth goal. After the match, Pohjanpalo grabbed the ball for himself, went to get a beer from the kiosk, stopped to greet the fans celebrating the victory and posed for their pictures.
A few months ago, Pohjanpalo received a beer from the stands after Venezia beat SPAL.
– Since then, fans have asked me to do it again several times. I said in an interview last week that after staying (in the series) is fairly certain, I can drink beer again, says Pohjanpalo.
In February, Italian and Finnish media reported that Pohjanpalo received a beer from a spectator after the SPAL match. The Finn laughs at the matter, because he would hardly accept a pint handed to him by an unknown fan.
– Yes, it was the wife who gave it then. He was a bit upset that he wasn’t seen in the videos then, Pohjanpalo laughs.
Pohjanpalo wouldn’t describe its beer tricks as a tradition yet, even though fans certainly have such a tradition in mind.
– Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how the players in football in general have become somewhat detached from the fans. The fans are what we play for. It’s nice to be able to give them not only experiences through football but also to show their own personality and their own “human” side, says Pohjanpalo.
Even promotion to Serie A is possible
The middle class of Serie B has condensed to an extremely even three rounds before the end of the series. Monday’s win lifted Venezia from 14th place to 10th place and just one point away from the eighth place qualifying for promotion.
– Yesterday’s win was really important. We knew before the start of the match that a win practically ensured survival. Mathematically, of course, there is still a semblance of a chance to fall, but it is very small. Now you can breathe, Pohjanpalo says.
Venezia’s miserable start to the season took a complete turn after they changed coaches in November. Now Paolo Vanolini the team he led has won six of his last seven matches.
– After the change of coach, the game has turned in a completely different direction. Now you can see the result of the winter dune. We have a dream of being able to move up to Serie A. There are full possibilities for that, which raises a lot of hopes.
Having scored 17 goals this season, Pohjanpalo shares the top spot in Serie B’s goal exchange with Cagliari Gianluca Lapadula with.
Pohjanpalo moved to Venezia in August 2022 from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, who loaned him to Turkey for the last season. The change has been good.
– I’ve had a really good time. There is no complaining. Great city, great fans and the game goes on. What’s better than that.
Pohjanpalo’s focus is still fully on the climax of the Italian club team’s season, but he will also be able to pull on the Finland shirt soon. In June’s European Championship qualifying window, Huuhkajat returns to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium with a defeat and a victory. Finland started the qualifiers in March against Denmark and Northern Ireland. On June 16, they will face Slovenia and on June 19, San Marino.
Pohjanpalo’s Goal Account has yet to be opened for these qualifiers.
– They are very important matches for us. We’re looking for two wins. That’s the only thing we’re happy with. There will certainly be tight games.