Helmarit will face Romania in the Nations League on Thursday, November 30. and Slovakia on Tuesday 5.12. will show both matches, the live broadcast of the Romania home match starts on TV2 and Areena at 18:25.
Vilma Koivisto started high school five years ago with a tough goal. Koivisto moved to Sweden to become the best soccer player in the world.
Head coach of IFK Norrköping, which Koivisto represented last season Tor-Arne Fredheim says that Koivisto’s determined approach to the sport is palpable.
– He always thinks about football. I believe that even while eating and sleeping.
Fredheim describes the 21-year-old Koivisto as a quiet character who just does his job. Koivisto is an offensively successful and reliable player who is constantly developing into a good two-way midfielder, says the head coach.
For next season, Koivisto is already moving to new circles. Linköping FC announced on Monday that he has signed a large contract with the Finn that will last until the end of 2027.
Koivisto, who left Rovaniemi’s Palloseura for the western neighbor, played in Piteå after high school with little responsibility. In 2021, he moved to the second highest league level to seek playing time from Umeå IK, which at the end of the season moved up to the Swedish premier league Damallsvenskan.
The main series was too challenging, and the club was relegated back to Elitettan. However, Koivisto played so convincingly that IFK Norrköping, who moved up to the main league, signed him last January.
– I talked with Umeå’s coach and I knew that Koivisto is hardworking and professional, Fredheim says.
Experienced player of a young team
Norrköping’s women’s team played in the Damallsvenskan for the first time in their club history last season. Head coach Fredheim says that Koivisto was a good acquisition for the team.
– It was important to get a player who knows what it takes to play in the league. He has been an important and experienced player for our young team.
Koivisto played in each of the 26 series matches and shared the team’s top three goals with his three goals. Fredheim still reminds that Koivisto is a young player – their performances always fluctuate a bit.
– Koivisto was really good in the first 6-7 games of the season. In the summer, his level dropped a bit, but he worked hard to improve his game. In the last two months of the season, he was really, really good. He is not the strongest in the main game or in tackling, but he is a strong passer.
At the end of the season, Norrköping was ninth and kept its place in the main league. The head coach is satisfied with his team’s season.
– We lost matches by one or two goals, so we never lost by three or more. We didn’t succeed so well in scoring, but that’s where we need to improve.
The national team path led to Helmari
Koivisto’s journey to the national team is exceptional in many ways.
Koivisto has gone through the path of the Finnish girls’ national team in leaps and bounds. He played his first national match in the under-16s in 2017. A year later, the 15-year-old Koivisto was given responsibility as a minor in the under-17s team, which wonderfully reached the EC bronze.
He has also been part of the under-19 and under-23 national team groups. He will debut in the A national team at the age of 18 in the summer of 2021.
Koivisto from Rovaniemi was the first from the Arctic Circle to play in the women’s A national team Sanna Rytkönen, who played in the national team in 1993–1997. 24 years had passed since the previous match of the player from the Arctic Circle.
Since then, Koivisto has played five matches in Helmarei and scored one goal.
The rejuvenation of the national team was already known when Marko Saloranta was named responsible coach in July 2022. Saloranta, who has coached in youth national teams for a long time, has now officially been the head coach of the A national team of the year. His handprint has been clearly visible in the group.
– The change has been made easier by the fact that I’ve known the players since they were quite young, so I know a little about what to expect from someone. Even now, there are nine players in the group who have played less than ten A national matches, Saloranta said at the team’s announcement event.
According to him, the young people have joined the team well both on and off the field.
– The strength of young players is that they can be hit in a tough spot and they start playing and don’t just wonder.
At the same time, Saloranta reminds that experienced players are really important for the team. Especially the experienced ones Emmi Alanen (105 international matches), Tinja-Riikka Korpela (117) and Linda Sällström (132).
Helmarit will face Romania in the Nations League on Thursday, November 30. and Slovakia on Tuesday 5.12. will show both matches, the live broadcast of the Romania home match starts on TV2 and Areena at 18:25.