One of the great promises of Finnish football I am Sevenius reached one of her career milestones on Sunday afternoon when she made her Italian women’s Serie A soccer debut.
The Finnish striker ran onto the field in the 86th minute against Como. Milan, who is fourth in the series, won the match 4–0.
– It was quite exciting to take the first touch, but it was a good feeling. I did smile for a couple of minutes playing, it was a great experience and it was great to get it out of the way. I hope to gradually get more minutes, Sevenius spoke to Urheilu by phone.
Sevenius, who scored 16 goals for HJK in the National League last season, unexpectedly moved to the ranks of the Italian giant at the beginning of January.
– Quite unexpectedly, information came from the agent that AC Milan would be interested. I went for a visit in the middle of November, I didn’t leave with any big expectations, I was just really excited to be able to visit, Sevenius begins.
The five-day visit went well and Milan offered Sevenius a contract. The young attacker did not directly put his name on the papers. Originally, the idea was to go abroad from a smaller club, for example through Sweden.
– There was something to think about, but it was the kind of offer you couldn’t help but take.
The negotiations progressed during December, and on the first day of the year, Sevenius was already in his new home country with his suitcases.
– There was no need to be nervous about it. Quite unexpectedly, everything happened and I still have thoughts about how I got here. But I’m glad I made it! Sevenius laughs.
Before Sunday’s Serie A debut, Sevenius had accumulated minutes in the club’s under-19 girls’ team. Milan’s representative team has a tough fight for playing time, as only a limited number of foreign players are allowed in the lineup.
– We agreed that I will train every day with the national team, but at the beginning the minutes will come from the U19 team and time will tell when it is a good time to switch to women. I myself have thought that development takes place in everyday life, which I get to do with representation. I’d rather play 90 minutes with the U19 team than sit on the bench with the national team. Now, when training is going better all the time, more and more places in the national team are being sought after.
Sevenius admits that the difference to previous seasons on the domestic fields is big.
– We train every day at 10:30 a.m. and that is every player’s main moment of the day. We compete for playing time, but also for jobs. The workouts are high intensity, there are no light workouts. Everyone wants to show off every day, and you can see it. It’s normal to get back and tear up during training, we train like we play. It took me the first couple of weeks to get used to the rhythm and tempo.
However, the competition suits Sevenius. He has already noticed the development in a month and a half.
In addition, Sevenius is living the dream of a professional in Milan, which he has been dreaming about since he was 5 years old. He has also actively strived for it, for example by practicing countless hours in his spare time.
– Yes, I charge into every training session with such a winner’s mentality. Quite often it has happened that I leave as a boss and come back as a humble girl, Sevenius laughs.
On domestic courts, despite his young age, Sevenius has always been one of the key players in his team. Now he has had to get used to a new situation, when the place of the opening is not clear.
– The fact that you were really good in training yesterday does not necessarily affect tomorrow’s training at all. I’m really ready to fight for playing time. Let’s start with a couple of minutes and go from there. Of course, joining the club in the middle of the season, when trust relationships between the players and the coach have already been created, is a new situation. And even when I come with much smaller sea routes than many others here.
Sevenius’ life has really been turned upside down in the last two months. Before moving to Italy, Sevenius lived at home in Nurmijärvi with his family and attended Pohjois Haaga sports high school. Now he lives in Milan in an apartment owned by the club, where he shares the kitchen with a few of the club’s players.
– The change has been really big. Moving to your own foreign country for the first time and cultural differences on top of that.. The first weeks I was just trying to survive when there was so much information. After the first month, everyday life started to spin.
Sevenius has received a lot of help from the club, in addition to which the family has been supportive.
– It hasn’t felt like I was alone, but there has been a lot to learn, Sevenius admits.
In Italy, things are arranged at their own pace, which has required a lot of learning from Sevenius. While still living in Finland, he had gotten used to scheduling his everyday life well in advance.
– If the next day’s matters are announced the night before, it is early. Often things are announced a couple of hours before, even if it’s a visit to the laboratory. Everything will be fine, the Taxi will be waiting in the yard. There’s no need to stress about things here or to announce them too early.
He also plans to learn the language, most of the football vocabulary is already at the beginning.
But what about high school studies?
– Well… a big thank you to PHYK for their flexibility and support, they also got the information last minute. We have managed to get everything together well, I have done courses remotely. Last week we had a hard discussion about the writings, whether I will be able to do them and it looks very promising that I will be able to come and do them. When were they, two and a half weeks from now, Sevenius laughs.
– If it goes well that I get to Finland and the papers go through, I should graduate in three years, which is a pretty incredible achievement. But it’s not airing yet…
Surrounded by Swedish stars
In AC Milan, Sevenius also has teammates from the Nordic countries: the most famous of them is the Swedish star Kosovare Asllani. However, in the men’s team of the Italian giant, there is even a more famous Swede than Asllani: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sevenius has already been able to meet his idol, and even his teammates will not forget the meeting.
– I was playing an U19 game and there was a bit of all kinds of bumps. I was being treated and then I left the training center with a member of our background troops as the last one. We came to the gates, when I noticed that it was a good time, I just walked past the car where Zlatan is sitting! We walked a couple of meters past when I told the staff member that there is Zlatan, we can’t just walk past!
A member of the maintenance crew urged Sevenius to approach the Swedish superstar.
– I walked back to the other window and stared inside. He didn’t look away, just staring at his phone. I walked back to the staff member and sighed that he didn’t see me.
An employee of the club urged Sevenius to knock on the window.
– I thought that I can’t, the car is so expensive. He threw that then you will be left without a picture. I thought for a moment, went back to the car and, like other women, knocked on the window. Zlatan looked up and I suggested that we take a picture together. He got out of the car and a group photo was taken. I had time to say that I’m a big fan of yours. I didn’t even have time to realize what he replied when I was so happy about the situation.
The next day, everyone on the team and members of the coaching staff knew about the incident.
– They all asked if I really knocked on Zlatan’s door. I laughed that I am, do you have a picture together with him. I’m still hearing about the incident in a derisive tone, but I think it was worth it, so I don’t mind!