Tuija Hyyrynen, who is preparing for the European Championships with the helmsmen, is secretive about her plans for the future. Both the new club team and the sequel to the national team are under consideration.
The Finnish women’s national football team is participating in the European Championships. The competition will take place in England from 7 to 31. July. All Helmari matches are seen on ‘s channels.
An experienced defender of helmsmen Tuija Hyyrynen played for five years in the ranks of Juventus in the Italian main series. The league championship came every season and in the League Cup he lifted the championship trophy twice.
The Finn’s long career in the “Old Lady” ended this season. Hyyrynen says that he has received enough contract offers to choose from the “good options” of his future club team.
– I can calmly see what my heart says, where I want to go and what I want to do. We have to look at what is the most interesting entity, Hyyrynen says.
– I moved all the stuff from Italy to Finland already. I can’t say more about the countries where the offers came from.
He says he kept all the doors open. It would be nice if the team had a Finnish playmate in support. It would make everyday life and adjustment easier.
– But so far I have gone to teams where there have been no acquaintances or Finns. As such, it doesn’t matter that much.
Hyyrynen has not made any decisions regarding his national team career either. The experienced defender played his first A national match in September 2007, almost fifteen years ago. There have been 119 matches in Helmari, the fourth highest ever.
The third place looms two matches away. The above 120 matches have Sanna Valkonen. Hyyrynen, who is visibly surprised, welcomes the statistics and says that “time is running out”.
– Now I am involved in the European Championships in a different role than as a younger player. Now I can be that bearer of responsibility and a leader. I am also able to support younger players, Hyyrynen, who has played two European Championships in his career, estimates.
The Helmare European Championship team was announced on Thursday. Finland is in the same starting line with Spain, Germany and Denmark.
Hyyrynen says the pressure is on opponents because they have “better teams on paper.” Of particular importance is a close defensive game, quick counter-attacks and winning game situations in the penalty areas at both field ends, he estimates.
– The big thing for the whole of Finnish football is that we are involved. There were already two races in the pipeline, which Finland did not get into. In addition to the players, it’s a really big deal for small players. They can now watch the races, and dream that anything is possible.
See Tuija Hyyrynen’s visit to ‘s Sports screen below.
Hyyrynen says that during his short vacation he was in the flu and on a course of antibiotics. The illness lasted so long that the entire vacation went sick. Now Helmarit is already preparing for the European Championships starting on July 7th.
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the good development of women’s football. According to Hyyrynen, the biggest step is that, for example, everyone in the Finnish national team has a professional everyday life – really the opportunity to focus only on football.
The direction is right, which is why Hyyrynen is excited about the European Championships in England. According to him, there is currently a big boom in women’s football in England.
– I think these competitions will be the biggest competitions in women’s football so far. And you can certainly learn from Finland that how big a thing football can be when investing in women’s football.