Anssi Suhonen has already suffered a number of injury setbacks in his short footballing career, including a torn cruciate ligament, a double fracture of the fibula and a torn tendon. What makes this even more remarkable is the way in which the central midfielder – who moved from Finnish side Kapylan Pallo to Hamburger SV in 2017 aged just 16 – has repeatedly fought his way back.

Now 24, Suhonen has once again been selected for the Finnish national side and played in both of his country’s games in March, as part of the first round of UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 26™.

In this interview with FIFA, he looks forward to the crucial upcoming matches against the Netherlands and Poland and discusses the resilience he demonstrated when returning from injury.

How have you managed to keep coming back from several serious injuries?
Anssi Suhonen: It hasn’t always been easy. But my goal was always to turn pro, so giving up and returning to Finland was never an option for me. I’ve always said that I want to carry on and I will always continue fighting. Football is my life and I dedicate everything to it.

Your journey to making your debut for the Finnish senior national team in 2022 is equally impressive. How proud are you of that achievement?
That was also a challenging journey, you could say. Playing for your country at youth level is one thing, but being able to make my debut for the senior national team was a dream come true, and something I’d dreamt about since I was a boy. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to return to the national team again now and I’m hoping that it will continue – that would make me very happy.

In March, you played in the opening qualifiers against Malta and Lithuania. How happy are you with your performances and to start the campaign with four points?
We were actually aiming to take all six points, particularly with an eye on the challenges to come. So, in that respect, we weren’t fully satisfied with our performance in these away games. The draw with Lithuania was particularly painful; we put them under a lot of pressure and then conceded the equaliser from 30 yards to make it 2-2. Personally, I was satisfied with my performance. I had been out for half-a-year before that and it was nice to pull on the national team shirt again.

You have important games against the Netherlands and Poland coming up. What are your feelings going into those matches?
They are both home games and we always want to take points from those, regardless of who we are playing. We have amazing support from our fans, so we always enjoy playing at home and feel like anything is possible. That said, of course it won’t be easy – particularly against the Netherlands. We are looking at second place in the table, so the game against Poland is maybe a little bit more important for us. We definitely want to take all three points.

How do you assess Finland’s chances in the qualifying group?
With the Netherlands and Poland, it’s obviously a good group. But we definitely have our sights set on second place. Essentially, you always want to qualify for the World Cup or European Championship finals. After the games in June, we will have a better idea of what we can achieve.

What would happen in Finland if the national team qualified for their first World Cup?
That would be quite something (laughs). Unfortunately, I wasn’t involved when Finland qualified for its first European Championship in 2021. But from the pictures I saw … it looked pretty good. I suspect it would be even better if we managed to qualify for the World Cup.

In January, Jacob Friis took over as national coach after Markku Kanerva’s eight-year tenure. How has the team’s style of play and your role changed?
I had/have a good relationship with both of them. With Markku – when I was fit – I was involved in all the training camps, even though I was playing in the Regionalliga Nord or the 2.Bundesliga at the time. He knew about my qualities as a player and always selected me, even if I didn’t always play. It’s a shame that he’s not there anymore but, at the same time, I’m just as happy with Jacob. He also picked me and I was involved in both games. From a tactical perspective, we have changed the way we play with the ball and the way we press a little bit. Generally speaking, our goal is to play bold football.

You mentioned your qualities as a player. How would you describe these in your own words?
My dribbling and passing are definitely strengths; I also do a lot of running and never shy away from a challenge. I like to think I can be relied on and I will always give 100%, whether I play from the start or come off the bench.