Teemu Pukki is in no mood to deliver understatement. “It is a big thing, one of the biggest games in Finnish football history,” he says.
The opponents? Wales. The prize? To move within a single game of a Euro 2024 finals appearance.
“We went to the Euros the last time but we want to do it again and want to do better than we did three years ago,” Pukki says. “We played Wales a couple of years ago in the Nations League and lost both games but they were very close. I believe it will be tight again.
“If you look at where the guys play, they will have more in the Premier League and similar but we have been doing really well over the last four years or so. We want to win this game to bring ourselves to another final. This is our last chance.”
Pukki is the latest to make a mockery of the notion Major League Soccer serves as a retirement holiday for European players. In Orlando this month, the 33-year-old hassled and harried defenders as if an aspiring teenager. One goal came from chasing down a goalkeeper, another cracked in off the post after Pukki cut in from the left. He is Minnesota United’s focal point. Those exploits in Florida took his tally to a dozen goals in 18 MLS appearances.
This move, made last summer after a fabled spell at Norwich, appears to have reinvigorated himthe charming Pukki. He knocked back chances to remain in England. “It wasn’t something I wanted to do. For a long time, MLS had been a thing I wanted to try before I retired. It is a big change but it was something I wanted after being in Germany, England, Spain, Scotland, Denmark.
“I have seen so much of Europe, I wanted something else. And the winter in Minnesota is similar to what we have in Finland.”
Thoughts of international retirement have been placed on hold. The striker has 39 goals from 118 caps. The latter figure places him within 20 of Jari Litmanen’s Finnish record. Pukki does, however, concede Germany in June could be his last tournament.
“The next Euros are certainly out of the question,” he says. “There was a moment last year that I was thinking this campaign would be my last, that I would soon be done with the national team, but now I am not so sure. I think I will keep playing after this one but all my focus is on this Wales game.”
After twice leaving his homeland, for Spain and Germany, Pukki was coaxed by Celtic to the Scottish Premiership in 2013. He lasted a quarter of a four-year deal after struggling for form and confidence. “Scotland was tough. I don’t think I was ready at that stage to play at a club like Celtic. There is massive pressure. Maybe if I had gone there a couple of years later it would have been a different story but in the end the year at Celtic helped me to get where I did with Norwich.
“Football-wise Scotland was not the easiest but it was still a great experience. I loved living there. And I really think it helped me.”
Via Brøndby, Norwich reaped the benefits. Pukki is the fourth-highest scorer in the Norfolk club’s history. So what clicked? “There were many things,” Pukki says. “From the beginning it just went well. Daniel Farke as a manager really trusted me. We had a good team, good team spirit. A lot of things clicked. That club became such a big part of my life.”
Pukki has looked on with envy as three of his close friends from those Norwich days – Kenny McLean, Angus Gunn and Grant Hanley – reached the Euros with Scotland. He is determined to join them.
“We are quite combative,” Pukki says of Finland. “We have a great team spirit, which I think is our biggest strength. And our goalkeeper [Lukas Hradecky] is world-class. His clean sheets have helped us a lot. We have also been together for so long, most of the guys, so we know exactly how to play with each other.”
Diverging stories have been penned by Pukki in Scotland and England. Now for Wales. “I have scored a couple of goals in Swansea,” he says with a smile. “So hopefully I can do the same in Cardiff.”
