Topi Keskinen is Aberdeen marathon man as gruelling schedule almost over bar one more target to hit

Daily Record

a day ago

The Finn has been paying non-stop for almost 18 months but Scottish Cup party wasn't the end of the hard work
Scottish Cup hero Topi Keskinen hasn't had a break for 18 months and won't get one until after this month's Euro Under-21 tournament finishes.
The Finnish star played half a season for HJK before he moved to Aberdeen in an £800,000 move last August, which has seen him play constantly for the last year-and-a-half.
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It has been non-stop for the flying winger but he is looking for one last push, with Finland's young guns gracing the Euros for only the second time in their history.
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Keskinen will head to the finals in Slovakia full of confidence after helping Aberdeen shock Celtic in last month's Scottish Cup Final.
When asked about his gruelling schedule, he said: 'Yes, of course it is. I knew already when I didn't get sold in the January transfer window, I was like, 'OK, now I'm in Helsinki.'
'I was like, 'OK, now the target is to go in the summer.'
'I knew already that it's going to mean I will have a long season but I've done better than I thought I would do.
'Of course it's mentally and physically tough. I think mentally it's even harder than physically. Yes, it is but you're still waiting for professional football.
'It's good that you have so many games, you don't have that much time to think about it, it's just football.
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'I have the Euros and after that one I'll take it easy. But it's just football, it's not that deep, you know?
'If I play one-and-a-half years, everyone has different stories and all that so I just need to make sure I recover well to the different games.'
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The 22-year-old's last lengthy break was back in December 2023 but even then he didn't get a long breather as HJK had group stage Euro football.
That's something he will be returning to with Aberdeen. He recalled: 'I came back to Helsinki in January and we had a longer season because we were in the group stage.
'We were still playing in the group stage and we had to come back from our holidays. So I had December off and then I was back in.'
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Finland are out make their mark at the Euro finals but they have a tough opener against a talented young Dutch side next Wednesday.
They then take on Ukraine and Denmark in a whirlwind seven days. Keskinen and his team aren't going to make up the numbers, with the Dons star making it clear that progress from their section is the aim.
Keskinen, along with a handful of his team-mates, has already been capped at senior level so it shows the potential in their squad.
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One of his four outings for the senior side came at Wembley and that experience will stand him in good stead for the Euro finals.
He said: 'It's in Slovakia and we play Holland, Ukraine and Denmark. It's an OK group. We want to go through because we have a really good team.
'Four or five of the group already have full Finnish caps.'
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It is also a competition that will put Keskinen in the shop window.
It has been more than 15 years since the Finnish Under-21s last qualified for these finals. It has been a big thing back in his homeland as they look for a new golden generation to burst on to the scene.
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Keskinen admitted: 'My friend Jukka Raitala, he's 36 now, he was in the group last time they were at the Euro finals.
'So it's been a while. Jukka was my team-mate in Helsinki, he played centre-back or left-back. He still plays now (for Gnistan).'
The Finn will get a break after the Euros to finally recharge the batteries before he gets ready to go with Aberdeen in the Europa League qualifiers. Jimmy Thelin will be looking to build on their Scottish Cup win as he prepares for his second season at Pittodrie.
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Keskinen now has more competition in the wide areas with Aberdeen snapping up Australian winger Nicolas Milanovic from Western Sydney Wanderers.
But the Finn has been one of the first names on the team sheet and he's confident of rising to the challenge and shining in the new campaign at home and abroad.
The summer break will give him the chance to find some more energy and he said: 'After the last game of the Euros, I'll get some time off. June 18 is the last match of the group stage so it all depends on how far we get.
'When you play 18 months of football in a row, you don't really need a full pre-season.
'I'm likely to get extra time off having been involved at the Euros.'