The great player got the farewell he deserved in Helsinki

Anssi Karjalainen

Every soccer player can learn from Hetemaj’s perseverance and unyieldingness, writes Anssi Karjalainen from Töölö Stadium.

Yesterday at 21:59 (updated yesterday at 23:45)

Perparim Hetemaj’s career began and ended in the blue and white HJK shirt. Jussi Eskola

The Töölö stadium saw a farewell in freezing weather. Several HJK players played their last match in Töölö, at least for a while.

Above all, however, the farewell evening was for Perparim Hetemaj. For him, the match was surely the last. Huima Player’s career officially ends in Greece, when HJK meets PAOK in the final round of the Conference League group stage.

After the final whistle, the great player said goodbye. Klubipääty sang and shouted Hetemaj’s name when he walked for the last time in front of the supporters’ stand.

Hetemaj had all the qualities to break through as a winger on European pitches.

– This season’s comet of the Veikkausliiga, who is only 18 years old. Hetemaj is a highly skilled platformer whose range of diversions seems to be completely limitless. Mainly a builder, but also able to paint himself, was written in Iltalehti’s review on August 1, 2005.

When you think about Perparim Hetemaj now, the assessment almost 20 years later seems amusing. On the other hand, that hilarity perfectly reflects the extraordinary career Hetemaj created.

Even playing football was not a given, but the family that fled from Kosovo to Finland worked to ensure that Perparim and Mehmet could play. HJK also had to come.

Hetemaj made the most of the opportunity. And even more. That alone has an inspiring story to tell young people who dream of becoming a professional soccer player.

For a long time it seemed that Hetemaj would try to create a career on the sidelines. However, Italy was needed to get the best out of Hetemaj.

It is no coincidence that it has been really, really difficult for Finnish players to create a career on Italian courts. Why? The environment is one of the reasons. The always unpredictable, impulsive, changing environment in Italy inevitably creates challenges for a Nordic person who is used to a steady, systematic operating culture. In tax-exempt Chievo alone, the head coach had time to change seven times When Hetemaj played in the club from 2011 to 2019.

Hetemaj was ready to adapt to the environment. Ready to learn, play and train in the middle of a crisis, in a winning streak, under all prevailing constraints.

The environment is one reason, but by no means the only one.

An equally important reason is that Hetemaj was an exceptionally good football player in his peak years. At Chievo, he was able to diversify and actually change his position and role. In the center of the midfield, Hetemaj played both in a more attacking and a more defensive role. At some point in his career, there was a moment when you could guess without even looking at the scoreboard that Hetemaj had probably received a yellow card in Chievo’s weekend match.

But that’s what it took. Every soccer player can learn from Hetemaj’s perseverance and unyieldingness.

300 matches in Serie A is an achievement for a Finnish player that cannot be highlighted too much. Hetemaj earned an appreciation in Italy that no other Finn has earned. Among other things, he has confirmed in various podcasts that the rumor about a dream transfer to AS Roma that surfaced in the last decade was even close to coming true.

Hetemaj was certainly a really annoying opponent on the field. In addition to all sliding tackles, possessions, transports and passes, Hetemaj learned ways to seek an advantage for his own team. He learned to use his body in such a way that it was easy to fall to the grass after even light contact and it was completely impossible for the referee not to whistle.

In the 2010s, Hetemaj was the second most fouled player in Europe’s top five leagues.

Even at HJK, Hetemaj has been extremely good in the situations described above. Many duel situations have turned in HJK’s favor in the final moments of the match, when the opponent has pressured them in their half of the court.

On Thursday, the audience got the warm-up moment they were missing. In the 67th minute, the whole stadium stood up when Hetemaj stepped on the Töölö artificial turf for the last time as a substitute.

The tribute was appropriate, and people who follow football closely understand Hetemaj’s greatness. When he played every week in Italy, it seemed that the importance of it was not fully understood in Finland. Maybe some have realized it after the fact.

Along with the termination notice, the news was heard. Hetemaj will join Klubi 04’s coaching team immediately next season.

In Italy, the game is at the heart of everything. In recent decades, Saapasmaa has also remained on the crest of the usual upheavals and trends in the game. Over the years, Hetemaj was able to watch various top coaches next to him and learn from their views and thoughts on the game.

That is exactly why the jump from the field to the side of the field did not surprise Hetemaj at all. He won’t necessarily become a top coach. However, based on Hetemaj’s experience, it is worth trying.