The Helmareite captain’s beloved Silver Arrow has accompanied him through a colorful career – in high school Tinja-Riikka Korpela had to explain why he still plays

“When there’s a breeze and the sun shines nicely, but not too hot. There’s nothing better. It’s nice to pedal past the queues of cars and watch people suffer here in London’s traffic jams. You can rewind the day’s events and go through the workouts. Then you’re home without noticing. “

Tinja-Riikka Korpela is in his own right the spiritual leader and captain of the Helmarei.

He already played in Finland’s goal at the EC home games in 2009, when Finland won their opening group nicely, but lost to England in the quarterfinals.

Korpela, 36, who has had an extensive international career, rolls his bike through the streets of London to and from training.

– I have a Finnish Tunturi bike. Bought in Finland almost 15 years ago. It has traveled with Norway, Sweden, Germany and now England. The lockers rattle. I just booked a service appointment, I have to take care of the silver arrow, Korpela laughs Matias Aution in the Helmaritähdet short documentary directed by

You can find the entire short documentary about Tinja-Riikka Korpela at the end of this article.

In social media, Korpela has taken part in the fight against racism and has spoken in favor of sexual equality. But Korpela has also brought out the good news of cycling and presented his beloved “silver arrow”.

– Please bring it back, I’m not angry… or maybe just a little, Korpela wrote.

– Pure love. Pure speed, Korpela later mused on Instagram, when the front tire had been put back in place.

Korpela’s colorful career abroad began after the 2009 European Championships in the municipality of Oppegård in Norway, in the Kolbotten team. From there, he moved to Lilleström, where he won the Norwegian championship in 2012.

In Sweden, Tyresö Korpela got to play with world stars, such as the Brazilian Martha as a teammate, and saved his team to the Champions League final.

Korpela had saved a clean sheet in the decisive semi-final match, but in the Champions League final, the Swede had to make a save from an even goalkeeper duo Carola Söberg. Although Marta scored two goals, Tyresö lost to Wolfsburg 3–4.

Korpela said last fall that it is one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

– I believe that the match would have ended differently if I had played. I was in the best shape of my career, mentally and physically, and I knew I could have won. I remember when we were walking past the trophy towards the silver medals and I thought I could still lift it. There hasn’t been a seam since then, Korpela recalled.

Tyresö had acquired star players – too risky. A month after the final loss to Wolfsburg, the club was bankrupt.

Korpela moved to Bayern Munich, where he was able to celebrate the Bundesliga championship twice. The pictures of Korpela lifting the championship plaques of Bayern’s men’s captain and goalkeeper have remained in the memory. Manuel Neuer’s with on the balcony of the Munich town hall.

Although Korpela is ultimately a team player, he can stand being alone.

– As a goalkeeper, you are alone on the field quite a lot. Far from remember. But I’ve always kind of liked it, maybe I have that hermit nature or something.

In matches, the goalkeeper may be invisible for long periods of time, but become a star or a villain through individual, decisive situations.

– I’ve always seen the side of being the hero who saves the team.

Korpela, who was born in Oulu and played his junior year, crossed the mark of 100 international matches last fall, becoming the first Finnish goalkeeper. The story could be different if Oulu had found a major league-level representative team in basketball.

Basketball had been Korpela’s number one sport by the time he was in sports high school, and he was also part of the youth national teams.

Korpela thinks that at the beginning of the 21st century, there were no external stimuli for girls and women players, but the motivation had to come from within.

– When I was still playing in Oulu, women’s football was nowhere to be seen, neither on TV nor written about in the newspapers.

– Starting from the training shifts, they were late night shifts and rough times. My first major league level game in Raisio 2005 was on a clay court. You couldn’t complain about it then, and that’s a good thing. That’s all I went to play with, padded sand pants on, and nothing happened.

The fact that Korpela was still playing football when the high school decision was approaching required some explanation at the time. We were surprised that “oh you still play football”.

– I was used to the fact that even girls can play football, but then you have to find the right profession. I didn’t have anything clear about what I was going to study, I just wanted to play football and become as good as possible at it.

Korpelakin initially worked alongside his football career to “pay the bills”, but the goal was clear.

– Everything was aimed at the fact that at some point I will be able to fully concentrate only on playing.

After the Bayern period, Korpela moved back to Vålerenga in Norway in the winter of 2018. Partly due to a broken hand, the responsibility was low. In the summer of 2019, Korpela went to the English Super League, which has developed its activities a lot.

In his first season at Everton, Korpela received incense, but in the second season the situation in terms of playing time changed. England’s junior national team losers moved to Everton Sandy MacIverwho had returned from his university trip to the United States.

Last summer, Korpela moved to Tottenham after playing time, where he also had to sit on the bench at first, while the Jamaican national team goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer was in high spirits.

– Communication with the coach has worked well: just continue in the same way, and you will definitely get games. The situation is fairer now: I know that if I stay in shape and continue in the same way, I will get playing time, Korpela said last fall.

In the end, Spencer and Korpela both played 11 Superliga matches in the season that ended, when Tottenham was fifth in the 12-team league.

It has been nine years since the last prestigious tournament for Finnish women. Korpela realizes that he doesn’t have a lot of playing years left.

– I had already thought that there would be more value competitions in my career. It means a lot that there is a chance to represent Finland at least one more time in the prestigious competition.

When Korpela steps into the mouth of his goal for Helmareit’s matches at the Milton Keynes stadium in the European Championship, one ritual will be seen.

– I’ve learned since I was little that you have to talk to the goalpost a little before the game. They are the goalkeeper’s best friends, so you have to keep a good relationship with them. Of course, before the warm-up for the game, I’ll go and talk to the goal posts a bit. It’s a ritual that has been around for a long time.

Helmarit will next face Denmark in the European Championships on Tuesday at 19:00. The live broadcast of the match starts on TV2, Areena and the app at 18:15. You can listen to the match from 18:30 on Puhe. You can find everything about the European Championships on ‘s competition page here.

Watch the entire five-minute mini-documentary about Tinja-Riikka Korpela below.