Head coach of the Finnish men’s national football team Markku Kanerva named 25 of the 38 players on the roster for the Huuhkajie EC play-offs on Wednesday.
A long convalescent Daniel O’Shaughnessy “Rive” directly admitted that he misses being back in the crew. Especially when in Finland’s defense line Leo Vaisänen is injured and With Diogo Tomas is also a little trouble.
O’Shaughnessy, who underwent two hip surgeries during the year, is still of no help to the Huhkajs, as he last played his official full 90-minute league game more than two years ago.
The Finnish top scorer of Karlsruher SC has had to, and still has to, turn every stone in front of him to be able to play top football. The hip problems of the player, who turns 30 next fall, have been such that the continuation of his career has also been in doubt.
Newspaper of the Karlsruhe region Badische Neueste Nachrichten has interviewed O’Shaughnessy and at the same time talks about the Finn.
According to the magazine, Daniel O’Shaughnessy works hard to continue his profession. His contract with Karlsruher SC expires in the summer, and local media suggest that the Finnish national team member will return to his homeland.
The Finn’s face briefly flashes a smile during training, writes the journalist Rene Dankert.
– Even though everything still doesn’t feel “perfect”, overall I feel more “positive” than before, O’Shaughnessy describes his mood.
Behind are exceptionally violent mental and physical trials. There is still uncertainty ahead. However, the thoughtful Finn does not give up. The matter has been made easier, among other things, by the fact that he became a father a few months ago.
O’Shaughnessy has not been able to show his best qualities on the football field for almost two years. After losing a couple of professional seasons in the prime of his career, returning to the limelight is a big mountain behind him.
– Things have progressed in recent weeks (in the right direction), and of course I hope it will continue in the same way, the national team defender says.
According to the magazine, even a third surgery was planned for O’Shaughnessy. When the Finn talked to the doctors in Heidelberg and Munich, however, it was abandoned.
– We try conservative treatment (other than surgical treatment), explains the Karlsruher SC doctor Marcus Schweizer.
Even though O’Shaughnessy’s recovery towards playing fitness is still in the stages, it already feels great in his situation.
– Getting here (to the training ground) has been a long process. In the future, you have to see how things progress from day to day, O’Shaughnessy states moderately.
Huuhkajie’s credit topper in the EC tournament
The 190-centimeter O’Shaughnessy arrived at HJK in January 2018 from Cheltenham, England. Good performances in HJK’s shirt made him a regular face in the Finnish national team from autumn 2020, where he made his debut at the age of 21 in 2016.
The defender, who has Irish roots on his father’s side, became the first Veikkausliiga player to get on the field in an EC match. At that time, he made his debut in Finland’s top three team Paulus Arajuuren and Joona Toivion alongside.
The left-footed O’Shaughnessy played 90 minutes in every Finnish match at the June 2021 European Championship, when Finland beat Denmark 1–0 in Group B, but lost to Russia 0–1 and Belgium 0–2.
The soccer player born in Riihimäki has 22 A national matches in his career, in which he scored one national team goal.
Brutal injury
At the age of 27, Daniel O’Shaughnessy moved from HJK’s captain’s post to the 2nd Bundesliga in January 2022. In Germany’s second highest league level, the former Markku Kanerva credit player had a total of 13 matches under his belt in the 2022 spring season and one goal in his statistics. In eleven games he was in the opener.
O’Shaughnessy last played an official full 90-minute league game more than two years ago, on March 4, 2022, when he appeared as Karlsruher SC’s starter against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
In June 2022, O’Shaughnessy’s terrible cycle of injuries began. He was injured in the Nations League away game against Romania when he broke his fibula. According to O’Shaughnessy himself, during the rehabilitation phase there was an annoying setback. When the fibula healed, a couple of other related “problems” appeared.
After these setbacks, there is only one match for the Finnish top scorer, in which he has played both in league and national team games. In a friendly match against Norway, O’Shaughnessy played for an hour on November 20, 2022 in Oslo.
After this, he has not been seen on the field in a fit state. Around the turn of 2022–2023, O’Shaughnessy was mostly able to practice on a limited basis. The return to team training also took a backseat, and due to the pain, he mostly had to pedal an exercise bike and go to physical therapy.
At the end of March 2023, Karlsruher SC announced that Daniel O’Shaughnessy’s season is over and he will need surgery on his right hip to save his career.
On July 1, 2023, the Finnish defender underwent an operation on his left hip, after which O’Shaughnessy has been sidelined from his profession for 256 days to date, and a total of 468 days in the last couple of years.