Player Card Series: Riku Pelkonen - a New Kid on the Goalmouth
10.06.2010
KaDy students will participate, as a representative of Finland and the University of Jyväskylä, in the European Universities’ Futsal Championship held in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia this summer (July 18th – 25th). During the period before the tournament kadyfutsal.net will satisfy the desires of the gossip-thirsty public by publishing an informative player card of every team member one by one. Stay online – any day can be a new player card day!
Previously published player cards:
3# Kerkko Huhtanen
6# Jukka Kytölä
17# Arash Muridiyazd
1# Riku Pelkonen
An anonymous peer review: “Never before has ’Belgi’ Pelkonen worn the KaDy shirt, but his daring performances between the posts of a local club (U.S. Skädäm) eventually caught the eyes of KaDy-executives resulting in an ever so important recruit. Fast and furious, ‘Belgi’ is the only goalie of KaDy’s EUC-team. How will the newcomer deal with the enormous social and psychological pressure stemming from his crucial status within the team?”
Date of birth: 28.1.1987
Status: A goalkeeper.
Weight/height: 78kg/175 cm
Clubs: U.S. Skädäm (2008- )
Major subject: Degree Programme of Civil Engineering (Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences).
KaDy-name(s): Belgi.
Strengths as a futsal player? “Lack of an instinct to protect myself and bicycle kicks.”
Interests outside futsal court? “Movies and gym.”
“Ara” Muridiyazd asked you the following: I’ve always wanted to know why you quit football? You were such a good goalkeeper (youth national team level). “Well, Arash, the moment I noticed my height growth had stopped at 175cm, I was forced to conclude that being only scarcely able to reach the crossbar will not get me far as a football goalkeeper.”
What have you always wanted to know about a KaDy player but have been too afraid to ask him? “I'll ask Mikko Kytölä the following: What do you think, will the scheduled move of Dynamo's home venue from the modest Huhtaharju School to the spacious Monitoimitalo (the Multipurpose Sports Hall) be an advancement not only from the point of view of the spectators and facilities, but also for KaDy's competitive success? Or will the larger home field turn out yet another challenge for the team, which only recently acquired an effective defensive strategy tailored for the compact and dusty parquet of Huhtaharju?”