Dutch professional football players can be found all over the world; from the illustrious Premier League or LaLiga to the smallest competitions. As a result, at least one Dutchman is active in each of the 24 countries that participate in the European Championship and with them we zoom in on the atmosphere, the European Championship selections, their own experiences and much more. In episode 3 Rick Ketting tells about the slowly but surely emerging European Championship fever in Finland. Although the Veikkausliiga continues despite the tournament as if nothing is wrong.
By Chris Meijer
When Croatia and the Czech Republic kicked off at Hampden Park on Friday at 6 PM, Ketting was ‘just’ on the field at the same time in the Veritas Stadium. His club Inter Turku was visited by sub-topper SJK, which was defeated 3-0. “You never really get used to the fact that you start the preparation in January and are finished at the end of October, that’s weird anyway”, Ketting shrugs about the fact that the competition will continue during the European Championship. “They have decided to continue playing during the European Championship. There is one competition boy in the Finnish national team: Daniel O’Shaughnessy. Important player for HJK Helsinki, but they knew and acted on it with the division of the roster. I think this is only beneficial for HJK, because that boy will be sold after the European Championships and a lot of money is coming in. Furthermore, there are no European boys currently playing in the national team, so to stop the competition now because of one boy… That is a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Not many people are involved in the Finnish competition anyway,” says Ketting with a sense of understatement. Still, football is slowly but surely gaining ground in Finland, thanks in large part to the national team. The Finns somewhat surprisingly qualified for the European Championship, finishing second in a qualifying group with Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Liechtenstein. When Ketting – who played in the Netherlands for Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles – initially arrived at IFK Mariehamn in Finland in 2019, he knew little about the national team. “It’s not Germany or France, but at a certain point you get that they are doing well and have a chance to make it to the European Championship. When the time came, it really was an event. Mainly for my Finnish teammates.”
In the meantime, Ketting knows the Finnish team fairly well. “If you play in a country and they qualify for the European Championship for the first time, you go and see who the players are and which club they play for. I was also thinking about getting a shirt, isn’t it nice. If the the Dutch team comes up against Finland, Frank de Boer can always call me for some inside information. In that case I don’t expect any problems at all”, says Ketting with a laugh. Besides O’Shaughnessy, he knows three more players from the Finnish league: Robert Ivanov (now Warta Poznan), Nikolai Alho (now MTK Budapest) and Rasmus Schüller (now Djurgarden). “Teemu Pukki is the great hero, everyone knows him by now. The keeper (Lukas Hradecky, ed.) plays in Germany and Glen Kamara was in the news with that racist treatment, he also does well at Rangers. Furthermore, there is not really a player that stands out. Tim Sparv has played in the Netherlands, Fredrik Jensen too. Thomas Lam is there. There isn’t really a player that makes me feel warm, but the team as a whole… That can also be very important, especially at a tournament like this. Iceland was such a surprise back then.”
Finland’s position against Russia. The Dutch acquaintances – Leo Väisänen (ex-FC Den Bosch), Tim Sparv (ex-FC Groningen) and Fredrik Jensen (ex-FC Twente) were on the bench, while Thomas Lam (PEC Zwolle) was not part of the match selection.
Finland kicked off the European Championship with a 0-1 win over Denmark, in a match that was completely overshadowed by the Christian Eriksen incident. “We were going to travel on Sunday, so I watched the game at home,” says Ketting. Inter Turku played the away game against KuPS on Monday in Kuopio, a sloppy seven hours drive from the south coast to the Finnish interior. “But I heard that there were quite a few people on their feet. One of my teammates watched the game by the river (the Aura, ed.) and went home with Eriksen after the incident. I think few people would have thought that that game would be played out anyway. It was not the ideal debut for Finland at the European Championship in terms of mood. I have only noticed respect. Of course they are happy with the result, but there is more than football. They didn’t come in partying. The topic of conversation was what happened to Eriksen rather than the good result.”
The result in the opening match has caused the European Championship fever in Finland to rise, because the eighth finals suddenly came into focus. Even after the defeat against Russia (1-0), there is still plenty of prospects for a continuation in the tournament, although the strongest team in the group is still waiting in the last group match: Belgium. If Finland finishes second in Group B, it is possible the opponent of the Dutch in the quarterfinals. “The match against Denmark was watched better than the final of the Ice Hockey World Cup, so that says something. Finland was in it too, yes. There are somewhere between five and six million people living in Finland and they estimate that two to two and a half million people saw at least part of the match. That’s quite a lot. Especially for a country where football is not number one.”
‘If I had stayed in the Netherlands, I probably would never have made it’
Football Zone spoke to Rick Ketting about his adventure in Finland a year and a half ago, where he first played on the island of Aland for IFK Mariehamn and eventually earned a transfer to Inter Turku.
Yet it does not yet lead to Finnish flags in the streets of Turku. “I don’t know if it’s typically Dutch. But it’s certainly not typically Finnish,” Chain laughs. “There are screens, the cafes are also open. Before the first game, a number of guests with a shirt from Finland entered the dressing room. The people I know outside of football tell me that they at least watch the game. But it is all experienced in silence, although that is also typically Finnish. Unless they’re on a lot of alcohol. It’s nice to be in the country that surprises, to get the joy with it.”
Chain does not have to think long to choose between the Netherlands and Finland. “No, that’s an easy choice,” he says immediately. Although he has not yet seen the the Dutch play a full game. “We played on Monday and the match against Ukraine didn’t start until 10pm Finnish time. So when it was 2-0, I thought, I think so, I’m going to sleep. The next morning I woke up and I had missed the most beautiful part. Well, look: I just have to play football and I want to get results. Fortunately, you still have highlights and summaries, so I got everything. It was the same against Austria: we played again a day later and then the game just starts too late.” However, continuing the Finnish league also has advantages. “The European Championship is a kind of trigger that puts football in a good light. The public is now welcome again, so there are still some people in the stadium.”
Episode 1: From Dutch amateurs to Süper Lig: ‘At the European Championship I just cheer for both’
Episode 2: Why Denmark is a Dangerous Outsider: ‘That’s a Big Advantage’
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