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SONERA PLAZA
Sonera Plaza is a Finnish publication and the below article is a translation from the Finnish.
ANTTI NIEMI CATCHES EVERYTHING
by Sami Hyypia
16-03-04
Click for Antti's Antics
We lost Sunday's match. The single hero of the match was my friend Antti Niemi - he was simply brilliant. But that didn't come as a surprise to me as I've seen him turn in some astonishing performances over the years.
Antti and I played our first senior level games for Finland on the trip to Tunis many years ago. At the time Antti had just signed for HJK Helsinki and I'd risen to the senior squad of Mypa. We also played together in the U-21's and against each other numerous times in the Finnish premier league. Antti won everything in sight and I won a couple of cups.
We left Finland about the same time, Antti to Copenhagen and I for Holland. I continued from Holland to Liverpool and Antti came to the English premier league via Rangers and Hearts. Now we're playing against each other again and Antti was hero both times when Southampton beat us at Anfield and now at home. We lost six important points to them and my opinion is that those points were almost single-handedly won by Antti Niemi.
On Sunday he hurt us by saving from our striker Michael Owen. Michael's penalty sure wasn't his best, but still we have to bear in mind that Antti had to guess right. And he made some incredible saves during the game. But as I've said it wasn't a surprise for me as I've seen him doing very well for the national team e.g. against Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, Germany.
I still don't quite understood how the top clubs missed him, especially during his years in Scotland. For instance Man U should have gone to Oulu for a goalie instead of USA. He's the most important player for Southampton, though he still hasn't won any trophies in the very competitive Premier League. But if he keeps playing like he did on Sunday, Southampton won't be his last stop. The man is young for a goalie.
I'm able to play a couple of years more with Antti in the national team. He hopes to crown his career by becoming the most capped goalie in Finnish history. I hope this will happen at the World Championships in Germany, perhaps against Oliver Kahn. A couple of years ago Niemi left "the world's best keeper" Kahn in his shadows in a 0-0 draw at Gelsenkirchenissa.
Antti Niemi is a nice guy and a man of principle. If he says he'll end his national team career at the end of the next qualification round he'll do it. I don't doubt it for a second and I honour his decision.
Before that happens, I hope Finnish fans will get many chances to sing the song, that even we in the national team sing from time to time: "Antti Niemi liimaa kaiken, Antti Niemi liimaa kaiken - hanhan on, hanhan on, tosi mahtava veska" (Antti Niemi catches everything, Antti Niemi catches everything, he is, he is, a top top goalie). I don't know if it's his favourite song as he likes heavy rock. But the words make more sense than Metallica and Ramones, which Antti likes to listen to.
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