Petteri Forsell and Benjamin Källman, who are also familiar with owls, form a dangerous radar pair for FC Inter. The league season starts on Saturday and the people of Turku travel to Kuopio.
Star player Petteri Forsell promises Inter and League entertainment and efficiency. Forsell, 31, returned to the domestic fields in the middle of last season and played a strong fall in Inter’s midfield. In the winter, he made a follow-up deal with the club and at the same time took his place on the list of the most watched players in the series.
This season’s games start on Saturday. Inter will start as a guest of Kuopio Ball Club.
– I have to show on the field that I’m a star player. It’s not worth talking about. And I know I can show it – I already showed it in the winter practice matches, Forsell says in Turku on Wednesday.
The ball master, who is also familiar from owls, has not been promoted to the best player in Veikkausliiga. Forsell’s exceptional feeding and triggering skills, kick range and technical features make him surprising and dangerous.
Also, solutions may not be the simplest end. If the feed can be given boringly or elegantly, Forsell’s choice is likely to fall on the latter.
– I enjoy certain things. I’ve started playing football because it’s nice. Not because I get to go to the gym or stretch. Great passes, great shots, Games won, Duel won. That’s why I’ve started playing. They come by themselves.
Forsell played 11 matches with a comfortable 3 + 6 last season, which should be just the beginning of this season. Forsell is supposed to form a pair of radars Benjamin Källman with.
Forsell says Inter has the best striker in the entire Veikkausliiga. Källman, who has returned to the national team, thinks that the best player in the series will play in the same team.
– It feels like he sees almost everything that happens on the field, even if he hasn’t watched. Now we know each other pretty well. Petteri knows what kind of moves I make and I know what kind of feeds he gives. It could be a really good weapon for us this season, Källman says.
“15 goals by summer”
Last season, Källman shared SJK, Veikkausliiga’s goal king Tucon (now Ilves) with 14 hits. Inter’s longtime creditor and captain Timo Furuholm ended his career in the autumn and based on the winter, the people of Turku will play with one of the top players in the future.
Responsibility for the top line falls even more on Källman’s shoulders. However, there are skilled players around to share the load.
– We have a lot of attack models ready. On the other hand, if they are revealed, then Källman is so fast and strong that no matter who is up against him, he can throw aside or run over. Sometimes a worse pass is enough, Forsell estimates.
Inter moved from one Spanish coach to another when José Riveiron the era came to an end and was replaced by those who also worked for the main Spanish teams Miguel Grau. The changes and renewal mean the start of a new project after fourth place last season and the silver medals that preceded it.
However, Forsell vows to rely on the team’s ability to strike.
– We have such good players that many are surprised. Those that have not yet emerged. I don’t say names because they don’t take pressure. Many good players will come to the attention of the general public this year.
Opening tour on Saturday 2.4: HJK – Honka, Haka – Ilves, KuPS – Inter, SJK – HIFK, VPS – AC Oulu, IFK Mariehamn – FC Lahti.
Serial format: Double Regular or 22 games per team. Six best in the championship series and six weakest in the challenger series. The final rounds are simple, meaning there will be 27 games in total as last season.
Last season: HJK took the championship before KuPS and SJK took the bronze. KTP fell to number one. AC Oulu held its place after the qualifiers. The VPS rose to the league. The finish line of the main series was shared by 14 hits Interin Benjamin Källman and SJK’s Tuco.
Källman has been looking for a career for a couple of years, for example in the form of loan laundering. For the last season he settled in Turku and immediately played a strong season. Now the contract is valid until the summer, after which the doors may be open again. Neither Inter nor the players specify the exact duration of the contract.
– He doesn’t play his whole career in Finland, that’s for sure. The strengths are enough for any series, you just have to find a suitable place. I don’t think he would have had any offers from abroad in the meantime. There have been special situations in the world and it may not be nice to go to certain places. He is good to be here, he gets a lot of goals and is able to score a lot, Forsell, who has played in Poland and Sweden in recent years, continues.
There is no information yet about Inter’s top striker in the fall. When a suitable offer comes, the team may lose their goal cannon as the time of the season approaches.
– There has never been such a situation in my career. The contract is for the summer and after that I don’t even know what will come. I try to take the game at a time and play as well as I can. Hopefully Inter will win all the games and see what happens next, Källman says.
Källman says the medal is Inter’s starting point. Forsell goes one step further by describing the attacking force with which Källman could take a step forward again.
– Yes Ben must have 15 goals by the summer when the contract expires. That would mean we have scored a lot of goals and attacked nicely.
Foreign countries no longer attracted
In March, Forsell received a family allowance, which contributed to the decision to stay in Finland. Offers came from abroad, at least from Poland, but Forsell set a strict minimum wage for them, which was not offered in the end.
– I decided on the price at which I could still leave at this stage. There were good offers and they caught on to the little ones, but I didn’t give up on them.
In the Veikkausliiga, he wants to be an attraction that would allow the series to increase its profile. The man has been one of the most wanted interviewees in the early spring, and with his personality and style of play he also brings the audience to the stands.
– As a football country, we are developing in a way that we are not all trying to be the same. The most important thing, of course, is to win games, but no one pays if there are no spectators at the games.
– I have watched the Veikkausliiga abroad as well. There are good players here that are nice to watch, especially when they are still familiar. Marketing should get a little better so that this makes for a good series of people other than me.