In most episodes of Ylen’s Sportliv series, only the main character of the program is voiced. Ria Öling’s in the episode, in addition to him, there are five other people in the voice.
– The more, the better, Öling says with a laugh. Then I don’t have to talk so much.
That’s Ria Öling in a nutshell. He doesn’t like interviews. And he is not the one who is loud in a bigger party.
– I don’t know what’s wrong with interviews. It just feels so unnatural to talk on camera.
Ideally he would just play football, but giving interviews is part of the job.
Nowadays, giving them is okay, as long as he gets to talk about football. He doesn’t like to talk about himself, not in interviews or otherwise.
Ria is still happy the way she is, although it would be easier to talk to fans, media and even sponsors if she was more outgoing.
– I’m a soccer player, so I’m happy that I’m good at soccer. If I had to change anything, it would be about my soccer skills, not anything off the field.
Watch Sportliv’s mini doc Ria Öling and her best friends club team FC Rosengård in Areena:
Brave despite his shyness
When the head coach of the national team Anna Signeul praises Ria Ölingi, the praise is usually not only about her performances on the football field. Signeul also admires Öling’s courage when, despite his shyness, he has let his development as a footballer show the direction in his life.
– When I choose a team, the whole is important and maybe competitiveness is what I think about the most, Öling describes his philosophy. I always want to get to a better level, a better team or a better league.
Having played at the highest league level for ten years, Öling has so far had time to play league football in Finland, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. And yes, football has always guided his team selection, but when the time has come to make a decision to either stay or move on, other factors have also decided.
Determinedly upwards
Ria Öling grew up in Gerby, Vaasa, and received her soccer education at FC Sport. At the age of 14, she made her debut in Vaasa IFK’s women’s team, which was then playing in Kakko.
He took his first big step at the age of 17 when he felt that in order to develop as a player he should play at the league level. He participated in winning the SM gold in PK-35 Vantaa in 2012 and enjoyed football there, but not life off the field.
– I was very young then, but I still wouldn’t want to live in the capital region. I like small places.
In the following season, Öling returned to VIFK, which had risen to the First Division. But when the national under-19 team qualified for the under-20 World Cup, he knew that to make the competition team, he had to play in the league.
The choice fell on Turku Palloseura. The World Cup dream came true and Öling was able to play in the Under-20 World Cup in Canada in 2014. He also enjoyed himself in Turku and spent four seasons there.
However, he had long dreamed of playing Spanish Tiki-taka football in Spain and jumped at the chance when he got it. However, three months spent in Santa Teresa CD was a disappointment.
– We didn’t play behind the Tiki and the football was bad. We practiced late and it wasn’t fun.
On that trip, Öling learned that if one day he returns to Spain, it must be at a top club. Because even though the Spanish league has improved since 2017, the level difference between the clubs is still large.
The following year he moved to Bröndby IF in Denmark.
– The trainings were good and we trained a lot and hard. We also had morning workouts for those who wanted.
– I developed a lot there and football was fun, but off the field it was not as much fun.
During the abundant year spent in Denmark, Öling did not have a real home, but lived at four different addresses.
Bröndby was and still is one of Denmark’s top clubs, but the unevenness of the league combined with his lack of enjoyment in life outside of football made him move on.
The choice fell on Växjö DFF, which in 2019 played its second season in Damallsvenskan.
Öling got a lot of responsibility there, the team played good football, and he enjoyed himself. But in his second season at the club, the team’s level of play was poor. Öling began to think about the next step.
He wanted a club where he could develop even more.
– When you’re the best in the room, it’s time to move on.
At FC Rosengård until 2024
In January 2021, Öling signed a contract with Malmö’s FC Rosengård, where he already won the Swedish championship in his first season.
There, his role model is the team captain Caroline Seger, the icon of the Swedish national team, who has won two Olympic silver medals and two World Cup bronze medals. The appreciation is mutual.
– Ria is easy to talk to and she is funny. And I like the kind of people who let you see another side of them, other than this quiet, cautious, shy Ria.
According to Seger, Öling has changed a lot since he came to Malmö a year and a half ago.
– After all, the longer you are in the team, the more you take up space and the more comfortable you feel in the group. Now Ria feels that she is a very important player for us and it has also made her feel more secure in the group.
Today, Ria Öling looks beautiful in FC Rosengård’s match posters as well.
– But Ria is not the one that takes up the most space or is seen and heard the most, says Seger.
– No, I’m not the loudest in the dressing room, Öling confirms, but usually there are only a few.
He speaks when he has something to say, but otherwise likes to sit quietly and observe what’s going on around him.
– I’m comfortable here and everything feels good, so I’d rather be here winning matches and playing good football than playing in a better league where I might not be able to touch the ball at all.
In an international environment
When a few of Ria’s closest friends come to dinner one evening in early June, it also becomes clear how important it is to enjoy yourself where you live, to have a nice life even in your free time – and to feel valued within the team.
The guests are Teagan Micahwho guarded Australia’s goal as the Matildas reached the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Charlotte Grant, who was also part of Australia’s Olympic team, but did not get any playing time. And then the German Stefanie Sanders, who has played twice in the Under-20 World Cup but has yet to feature for the women’s national team.
You can sense that the women know each other well and enjoy themselves together.
– I like team sports because there are so many different personalities in the group, says Micah. If the team was full of extroverts, there would be clashes.
He is very outgoing and talkative himself, but still doesn’t think that a top athlete needs to be.
– The most important thing is to be yourself and show your skills on the field.
Charlotte and Stefanie also have no problem being the center of attention, but both, like Ria, are wary of interviews.
– It often happens that I overanalyze and think too much during interviews, Charlotte says. I want to be nice and not offend anyone. That’s why they can sometimes seem awkward.
For Stefanie, whose mother tongue is German, it is mainly the language that causes problems.
– I prefer to answer in German, because I sometimes have to look for words in English. It feels stupid when I stumble over words and have to think too much.
Of the four teammates, Ria is the only one who speaks Swedish. He grew up in a Finnish-speaking family, but learned Swedish as a child at a Swedish language immersion school in Vaasa.
The European Championship in England begins
For Ria Öling, Caroline Seger and four other Rosengård players, the long-awaited EC tournament is finally at the door – with the associated obligations.
– We’ve had some media training in the national team, but not the kind that says you have to stand or do like this, but mainly what you can say and what you can’t. There will certainly be more of it before the European Championships, says Öling.
Since Finland didn’t make it to the 2017 Games, he made his debut at the adult European Championships at the age of 27 and one of the most important players of Helmarei.
– Now I have been able to play in almost every match since the beginning and I am a versatile player who can play in different positions.
– I have liked the fact that I can use my strengths depending on who we face and where I play.
Women’s football continues to develop rapidly and Öling mentions Spain’s Barcelona as a team with very skilled players who have learned to play at a very high tempo.
– I don’t know if we have the same tempo in our training in Damallsvenskan. You have to be in good physical condition, and I think we are, but in last winter’s training match against France, you could see how fast they are and that you have to be awake all the time to keep up.
In the European Championships, Finland faces three difficult opponents in the group stage, Spain, Denmark and Germany. A nightmarish draw for the Finns, but Öling still wants to believe in the team’s possibilities.
– I feel that we are mentally strong. In the qualifiers, we were able to win matches in the last minute or extra time. It feels like we are working together and that we still have the ability to score goals and win matches at the end.
For Finland, the European Championship starts on July 8, when Helmarit meets Spain in Milton Keynes. at 19:00. The live broadcast of the match starts on TV2, Areena and the app at 1800. You can find everything about the European Championship on ‘s European Championship page here.