“You just have to be better than the guy next door”

Soccer player Perparim Hetemaj sitting with her sister Fatlumen at the kitchen table in Helsinki and drink Turkish coffee. Children under school age under Fatlume also run next door. Hetemaj is also in the kitchen Emine-Mum.

You can see from everything that Hetemaj has returned to Finland. She playfully talks to her nieces in Albanian.

For Hetemaj, family is everything. While living abroad, he spent long periods alone far away from his loved ones. That was the most significant part of the professionalism that began in 2006 for him.

Especially in the early stages of his career, loneliness was a tough piece for Hetemaj as he sought to create a career in the Greek league at just 19 years old. At that time, everything was still new and the days at the training center were long and heavy.

– After all this, you come home alone. That was the hardest thing for me. For me, the mental side wasn’t the hardest because I had already attended a particular school in my lifetime. My story since birth has been a little different. Being separated from my family was the biggest thing for me.

That school or story can accommodate, for example, moving from the territory of the former Yugoslavia to Finland at the age of five.

Now Hetemaj, 35, is back here. His playful home is in HJK, whose shirt he wants to end his career with.

Everything happened quickly in the end and Hetemaj himself trained Reggina, who was playing in Serie B, to break his contract. Here are the discussions with the CEO of HJK Aki Riihilahti were already at the finish line.

As the wheels moved in the right direction, Hetemaj sat on April 21 as HJK head coach Toni Koskelan next to a press conference at Töölö Football Stadium.

In the end, just two days after the announcement of the contract, Hetemaj ran for the exchange in the Veikkausliiga match against Turku Inter. The last time Hetemaj was seen on domestic fields was in June 2006.

This is how the circle closed after a break of almost 16 years and 49 A-national matches – just as Hetemaj had hoped.

– It was a good trip. When I was younger, of course, I wanted a more glamorous career and that was also my goal. Maybe I could have pulled even better, but things don’t always go according to plan, Hetemaj says.

– I have always had hard faith in myself, family support, perseverance and patience, which is the hardest of these things. Those are certainly things that cannot be ignored when it comes to such a long journey.

Although Hetemaj hoped even more for his professional career in the euro fields, it was completely exceptional for a Finnish player by all measures.

His professional career began in the summer of 2006, when, according to press reports, Hetemaj joined the Greek AEK in Athens with a transfer of EUR 450,000.

The only matches of his career (4) In the Champions League, Hetemaj played in the ranks of AEK, where he took his first steps as a professional. A player with a Kosovo background assured the coaching leadership of the Greek club immediately after joining the team and made his debut in the toughest competition on the old continent at the age of 19 against Anderlecht.

Hetemaj thus got off to a perfect start to his professional career.

– I thought then that only the sky is the limit. That’s how it should be. Don’t go there to apologize. I wanted everything I could get as a footballer, Hetemaj line.

Then Hetemaj experienced the worst setback of his career. The terrier-like midfielder broke his ankle in the first international match in early 2007 and was on sick leave for about six months.

– The worst injury of my career came at a critical juncture. I was on a good flight back then playing four games in the Champions League. It slowed development because I wasn’t playing for almost a year. Because of that, I also had to change my style of play because the injury was severe.

The injury also taught Hetemaj the cruel side of professionalism. The well-established career changed after rehabilitation to apply for a place through the AEK reserve team.

According to Hetemaj, the most important thing he learned in the fields of Europe was patience. Hard work was rewarded in the end, although at times the pain was hard.

– I played against better players in a new place and tried to close the gap. It made me tired because the strain was much harder.

The feedback was much more direct and the competition tougher than he was used to.

The final breakthrough in Greece was not made, but after that Hetemaj signed a short contract with the Dutch Twente for the 2009-2010 season. In the Netherlands, too, playing time was under a rock.

Hetemaj then made the most important move of his career by signing a loan agreement with Brescia, who played in Serie B, Italy. At the end of the season, the Italian club rose to the top of the series and Hetemaj’s screenings brought him a three-year extension contract.

Hetemaj has not looked back then. Italy became the home of Hetemaj for more than ten years.

The career in the main series of the boot country started in the ranks of Brescia, but Hetemaj made a big name for himself in the taxable Chievo team, which he represented for as long as eight consecutive seasons.

The years in Chievo were the best time of Hetemaj’s career. Hetemaj was always a player in the starting line-up. Only bans on play or a few injuries kept him out of his familiar playground. The captain’s band was also a familiar sight on Hetemaj’s left arm. In Chievo, he was named the Finnish Gladiator – “il Gladiatore finlandese”.

In total, Hetemaj had 300 games in one of the toughest leagues in Europe. He played his last games at the highest league in Italy in the spring of 2021 in a Benevento shirt.

– I have made my passion and dream come true. At the same time, it’s my job and I’ve done what I love. Not everyone is given the same opportunity and I am happy that this happened to me. That’s why I can appreciate this a lot.

Hetemaj had the opportunity to move to even tougher clubs in Italy, but for one reason or another the move was never seen. However, he did not want to make a fuss about it because things were going well in Chievo.

– By Italian standards, these were big clubs – but not quite the top teams. Those things weren’t up to me then. Perhaps I could have protested a little more and demanded a transfer. However, I was lucky to be able to play in a great club in Serie A every week. I got to live in a great city, and I had a good financial life.

That was not always the case. Hetemaj’s family arrived in Finland from war-torn Kosovo in 1992. At that time, the family had to start from scratch.

According to Hetemaj, his history has played a big role in why he has excelled in the world’s most competitive sport. He is tenacious and will never give up.

The top teams have multiple players in the same venue, so the competition for playing time has been fierce.

– The competitive situation is tough, but there is also respect in it. Sometimes there will be situations where the two heads bump together and then let’s see which one is mentally tougher. Things like that were never a problem for me.

According to Hetemaj, he has been allowed to play with good people, and the struggle for playing time has never gone dirty. After all, the formula for success is very simple.

– The feedback has been very direct, as it should be at that level. If things are talked about behind your back, others will intervene very quickly. It is always good to talk directly. You just have to be better than the guy next door. It’s very simple.

The hardest achievement of his career, Hetemaj holds just 300 match-breaking laundry in Serie A. In addition, he appreciates being able to play in the Italian main series until he was 34 years old.

Hetemaj also had to think about things from a new angle as he got older.

– Must be prepared to make changes in lifestyle, practice and thinking. Then it’s worth thinking about whether it’s worth playing in every game. When I was younger, I had a hard time with that because I wanted to play all the time even though I wasn’t in perfect shape. Nowadays, too, it is easier because as an older person, one is better balanced. You have to be sensible and aware of what you are doing.

– As a professional, you can’t do normal things. I don’t think it’s a sacrifice but it’s because I want to play football at the highest possible level.

Although Hetemaj has far more years of play behind him than in front, his love and passion for football has not died out. Now, with his own example, he wants to steer HJK’s young promises forward in his career.

HJK’s midfielder will be 36 years old in December. The agreement between Hetemaj and HJK covers two periods. In addition, the agreement includes an option for the period beginning in 2024.

– I’m going to do this as long as I get something out of this sport. I’m not saying I play until I am 40 years old because the limits are coming up. Hope some guy next to me takes my place. Then it is a signal to me to stop, laughs Hetemaj.

Now Hetemaj has an 18-year-old next to him at HJK Casper Terhon players like him who are at the same point in his career as he was 16 years ago.

An experienced gambler with young promises dreaming of European professional series has clear instructions.

– You have to be patient, do a lot of dune and listen to the coaches. You also need to find out what professionalism really is. That is not what is generally imagined. It’s a lot of being alone and training, and not really anything else.

– Those who are able to keep the focus on it and accept it, then at some point the opportunity will come. Then you have to be ready. That’s why those sacrifices are made to make that prize come one day. One should never compare oneself to anyone else. Everyone has their own path to walk.