Roman Eremenko, 35, returned to the Veikkausliiga after a 17-year break. He also answered questions from the Finnish media for a long time.
Familiar from the Finnish national football team and Euro courts Roman Eremenko returned to football’s Veikkausliiga after a 17-year break on Monday, when HIFK faced FC Inter on their home field. The people of Turku gained the upper hand in the match, and won the game clearly 3–0 in front of more than 3,000 spectators.
At the press conference after the match, Eremenko opened his thoughts about the events of 2016 for the first time. He then tested positive for cocaine in a doping test taken during a Champions League match and received a two-year ban.
After this, Eremenko practically withdrew from the public eye. At the press conference, Eremenko was asked if returning to the press would bring extra excitement.
– Not that one. You’re not asking anything like that, Eremenko replied with a small grin on his face, but finally opened up about his thoughts regarding the cocaine cart.
– It happened. It was a big event. I suffered. The whole family suffered. Of course, it grew, but here we are. You can’t change what happened anymore, Eremenko replied.
Eremenko was also asked after this if he thinks he has had to give up a career that could have otherwise happened without the incident.
– I don’t think it’s a good idea to start worrying about this. Now let’s move on and focus on HIFK’s affairs, HIFK’s head coach Mixu Paatelainen answered.
However, Eremenko interrupted Paatelainen with his answer.
– Yes, I thought that maybe I would be in Barcelona if it hadn’t happened, but, but. Of course, for the rest of my life there will certainly be thoughts of what if and if. I can’t change anything anymore. It happened, Eremenko commented.
The match was extremely difficult for HIFK. Experienced captain of the team Sakari Mattila fooled himself out after the 23rd minute of the game. Mattila gave herself two yellow cards at a fast pace and got to the side of the shower.
According to a very disappointed Eremenko, this was the turning point of the match.
– Good evening. It was a great start and good feelings. We got up to speed. Then we got a red card and the game ended there, Eremenko regretted.
– It was nice and then came the shock. Although we shouldn’t say anything about the red card, it absolutely killed us. It was a turning point. It can be considered an excuse. If you look at the game, that was the turning point.
Inter escaped
After the red card, Inter raced to a 2–0 lead before halftime. Juho Hyvärinen scored Inter’s opening goal with his first of the season. Also Aleksi Paananen succeeded even before the break, when Inter fed the HIFK defense into a knot.
Paatelainen was also disappointed at the press conference.
– Here were great opportunities for an absolutely fantastic football match. It’s a shame that neither team nor the players ruined it. It got ruined for some other reason. It’s a bummer.
However, Eremenko already showed in his first match that his eye for the game and his touches on the ball are exceptional in the Veikkausliiga. Eremenko was the closest to the goal after half an hour, but the shot went over the goal.
Eremenko spent more than an hour on the field.
– After all, it was a bit of a stretch since I haven’t played in two years. All right, it started rolling at one point and we got a momemtum just before the red card. It was heavy and I was out of breath quickly. When we were close, I was out of breath even more. Then it’s hard to show your skills when you’re on acid. Nothing helps but to train and improve your condition, Eremenko said.
Two reasons brought me to HIFK
35-year-old Eremenko said that he had already thought about quitting before his contract with HIFK. However, he decided to go to HIFK’s training a couple of weeks ago.
– I saw how the places would last and then I felt that maybe I could still try to help the team. It didn’t help today, but there are still a lot of games left here.
HIFK’s little brother was chosen as the club Sergei’s and head coach because of Paatelainen.
– The first reason was that I could play with my little brother. I’ve played with dad and big brother and now it’s little brother’s time. Mixu was another reason, Eremenko said.