 |
| Coach Martti Kuusela |
He is eying to
be the next potential head coach of The Gambia with the aim and objective of
bringing back the country’s lost glory in the international competitions especially
at the senior level since the untimely departure of the former Belgium technician
Paul Put who is currently coaching Burkina Faso who are a step away from
qualifying to Brazil 2014 World Cup.
It could be
recalled that The Gambia was in the bottom of the table in the recent concluded
FIFA Brazil World Cup qualifying round campaign with only four points out of
six games. The campaign started with Italian as the head coach who was later demoted
and replaced by his Gambian assistant Peter Bonu Johnson.
Therefore, the
need for Gambia to have such a highly experienced coach like Martti Kuusela to
take in charge of our national team is indeed highly needed and timely. If
Kuusela is selected out of the lot applying for the position, Gambia will be
the first African country to be coach by the highly Finnish and European tactician particularly under the newly elected executive into Gambia Football Federation (GFF).
Mr. Martti Kuusela has vast knowledge and experience in coaching. He has
coached several club sides in Europe and has equally coached the National Team
of Finland severally. His wealth of knowledge and experience will be a valuable
addition to any club or country as a Manager/Coach/Technical Director.
The duo who is
currently living in Helsinki, Finland with three university degrees, has a very
popular lecturer on football coaching and also been lecturing on mental training,
psychology and management. I have got a German Football Licence, Deutsche Sporthochschule
in Cologne (Köln) 1981, Fussball-Lehrer
In an exclusive
interview through skype with Gambia Sports News Online, the duo stated ``I am the first ever
Finnish coach to have worked as a professional coach abroad. I have worked
until now as a head coach in six countries: Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Hungary,
Greece and Cyprus. Every time when I have worked in Finland my team has won something;
the Championship, Finnish Cup or both. I have been selected two times as the
football coach of the year in Finland and once as the coach of the year
including all sports. Teams coached by me have achieved Finnish Championship
two times and also twice we have been crowned as Finnish Cup winners``, he said.
``I worked seven
years for Finnish Football Association and as a National Team Manager/Head
Coach of Finland for six years. In World Cup Qualification matches during
1984-86 my team received eight points in total. Finland had never been so close
in qualifying to World Cup or European Championship before. We beat two times
Turkey, once Northern Ireland and played two draws against England and Romania.
If we had managed to get one more win we would have taken part in 1986 World
Cup in Mexico. My last match as the Finnish National Team Manager was against Czechoslovakia
in European Cup Qualification and we won it 3-0``, he said.
He continues
that ``in Hungary my team Kispest-Honved, which is a big club over there, won
the Championship in 1993. The club has not won the league ever since. When I
took over Kispest-Honved, early October 1992, the team was in 8 position and 8
points behind the leading team. We worked very hard and managed to turn the course
and won the Championship. I am the first foreign coach who has won the
Championship in Hungary``, he said.
Asked of his
memorable time in his career in the game of football, he said ``very memorable for
me are my years in Greece and Cyprus where sometimes the feelings and emotions
of the board and people in the club's management made the life of a coach very unpredictable.
I learned so much about life and football (which over there are many times the
same thing) and made lifelong friendships. I think I made a very good
impression and some good results over there as they kept inviting me back``.
`´I have
received a lot of offers to coach in many countries during the years. When I
was between jobs I was travelling a lot to meet my various football contacts
all over the world. One is never complete as a coach and definitely never too
old to learn new tricks! Especially in the world of football it is important to
stay on top of new methods and to be open to new influences and as important is
to expand contact network over the borders of different countries, sports and
industries`` he said.
Commenting on
his contribution to improving the game, the duo said ``I have contributed a lot
to Finnish sport scene by helping the national broadcasting company as a TV
pundit and wrote analysis on national sport magazines and newspapers on regular
basis. Lately I have helped a number of Finnish high-tech companies to expand
their business within the sport sector using my wide contact network in Europe.
I am a keen admirer of some of the new technological tools in football and I
only wish I had had these at my service earlier``.
He further
explains that ``I have a tailor-made satellite TV-system at my home which
allows me to follow more than 1300 different channels worldwide. I watch
matches from Asia and Australia as well and write analysis of those matches for
my own use and for few online services. Having said that I am top fit myself
and I feel I have still 5-8 years of coaching career ahead of me. I do
cross-country skiing almost every day (around 1000km each winter) and play
football regularly``.
Football Education and Achievements
He badges himself
a UEFA Pro Licence, the Finnish Football Association, Several Coaching courses
(eg. England, Sweden, Germany, UEFA, FIFA, Finnish Football Association), Journalist,
Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki 1971-72 - the best education for journalist in
Finland
Master of Arts,
Tampere University 1976 – mass communication, economy, several management
courses (business, psychology, motivation), two years in Finnish national team,
10 years in first league clubs in Finland and left midfielder, playmaker,
offensive midfielder, libero
Coaching Background
1976 division 3,
Finland, 1978 division 2, Finland, 1980 division 2 FC HJK, Helsinki - 3rd place,
1981 division 2 FC HJK, Helsinki - the Finnish Champion and Cup winner. Also
the coach of the Finnish U-21 and the assistant coach of the Finnish National
Team.
From 1982-1987
The Manager and Head Coach of Finnish National and Olympic Team, 1989 the coach
of B 1903 Copenhagen, 1.division club in Denmark, 6. In division 1 and the
group winner of Intertoto, 1990 the coach of FC HJK Helsinki, The Finnish Champion and cup finalist, 1991
the coach of Beerschot, Antwerpen Belgium. Division 1 club, 7.10.1992-15.3.1994
the coach of Kispest-Honved, Budapest Hungary division 1
1993 The
Hungarian Champion, 1994-1995 the coach of Proodeftiki, Athens Greece,
2.division club, 1995-1996 the coach of Apollon Limassol, Limassol Cyprus,
1.division club, 1996 the coach of FC HJK Helsinki. The Cup winner, 1997 the
coach of FinnPa Helsinki, 1.division club 3rd place. This was the
first medal of the club in its history, 1998 the coach of Proodeftiki, Athens
Greece division1
1999-2000 I
coached many national level players and youngsters. As the Chief Football
Analyst I analysed English Premier league matches, teams and players for a new
online service called Match on. I also worked as a pundit for the Finnish TV
and radio.
2001 The coach
of Panionios, Athens Greece division 1. Panionios was the only team which won
all the big teams like Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. This summer
our pre-season preparation succeeded well. We won Fiorentina and Parma and we played
1-1 against AS Roma.
2002-2004
Because of family reasons I couldn`t work abroad as a coach but I was still
very active in football; I ran trainings for many junior players and for some
national level players. I was the coach for the All Stars Team of the Finnish
league and we beat Hearts from Scotland. During these years I got many offers
to work as a coach abroad and also in Finland but unfortunately I couldn`t
accept them. I continuously studied different coaching methods around the world
whilst working as a television and radio pundit. I was in World Cup 2002 in
Japan as an analyst for the Finnish radio. I was also in Euro 2004 in Portugal
as an analyst for the Finnish TV and radio. I was also analysing English
Premier League matches, teams and players for Canal+ Finland.
2005 - the coach
of Aris FC Thessaloniki, Greece, 1.division
2006- 2007 I was
in World Cup 2006 in Germany as an analyst for the Finnish TV and radio. I was
analysing the English Premier League and Champions league matches, teams and players.
I also wrote World Cup team analyses for World Cup publications in Finland. I
got many offers to be a coach all over the world but I couldn`t take these jobs
because I had a contract with the broadcasting company until June 2007.Coached
of Finnish "Old Boys" national team as we played 2-2 against Denmark
and won 2-0 France.
2008 - The coach
of FC TPS Finland in the 1.division in Finland.
2009- 2012 TV
pundit and analyst for Finnish TV and radio. I conducted trainings and training
camps for different junior and professional teams. I lectured in numerous
companies, clubs and for the European Union council in Brussels.
2012 I took a
job in Turkey as a coach of a group of "noncontracted" players from
12 different countries and ran one month long pre-season for them. We played
against many top division teams from Eastern Europe. After the camp nearly half
of the players received contract offers from clubs that we had faced or through
scouts who had watched our games.
National team
players trained by Martti Kuusela: Pasi Rautiainen (Bayern München, Werder
Bremen, Finland), Jari Rantanen (Finland,IFKGöteborg,Beerschot, Leicester City),
Mika Lipponen (Twente, Mallorca), Kari Ukkonen (Lokeren, Anderlecht), Ari Hjelm
(Stuttgarter Kickers, St.Pauli), Jari Litmanen (Finland, Ajax, Liverpool),
Shefki Kuqi (HJK,Crystal Palace, Newcastle,),Aki Riihilahti (HJK, Finland, Crystal
Palace) Mika Ääritalo (TPS), Simo Valakari (TPS), Pierre Larsen (Grasshoppers,
B 1903), Michael Manniche (Benfica, B1903), Kenneth Brylle (Beerschot, PSV,
Denmark), Per Frandsen (Bolton, Denmark), Prince Polley (Ghana), Godwin Okpara
(Nigeria), Emeka Ezeugo (Nigeria), Gabor Halmai (Hungary), Bela Illes
(Hungary), Erwin Kovacs (Hungary), Istvan Brockhauser (Hungary), Istvan Pisont (Hungary),
Oleg Protassov (Russia), Zizi Roberts (Liberia), Jaroslav Drobny (Czech),
Marcello Paulista (Brazil), Alain Raguel (France), Gilles Domoraud (Ivory
Cost), Slobodan Krismarovic (Serbia), Fernando Sanjurjo (Argentina), Ronald "Nacho"
Garcia (Bolivia), Christian Gyan (Ghana), Urmas Rooba (Estonia), Ebrima Sohna
(Gambia), Victor Turcios (El Salvador), Ikechukwu Kalu (Nigeria).
Meanwhile
follow Gambia Sports News Online’s subsequent editions as I will try to some
references from people in the game in Europe who know the man very well to the
best of their finger tips without informing the man.
No comments:
Post a Comment