To see Juno Makela in Sydney...

 

Makela arrived in Sydney on Thursday morning and met the media just hours after arriving from Finland via Bangkok.

The 27-year-old Finn, signed on a 15-month contract to a side now sitting on the bottom of the A-League, impressed in a ten-day trial last month and said he was keen to play in Monday’s NSW derby against the Jets in Newcastle.

However, there are issues with clearances and he’d prefer some more training time with his new team-mates.

Match fitness might also be an issue with the player revealing he’d been training with his former club in Finland over the last month but his last competitive game was two months ago.

“It might take to be game fit I need games, but I have been training very hard," he said. "But training hard and game-fit, there is a difference.

“I will give my strength to the team with my pace and goalscoring abilities and my physical strength and good heading also. And hopefully lots of goals too.”

Makela revealed 2010 had been a career-best year for him.  He enjoyed a stellar season with HJK Helsinki in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, finishing as the league’s leading goal-scorer with 16 goals in 18 appearances and taking out the Striker of the Year award.

Offers came in from Europe and Scandinavia and China, but it’s the A-League that piqued his interest.

“I’m ready for a new challenge and Sydney FC offered me that kind of challenge," he said. "I thought this was a good step for my career right now and I didn’t really want to wait any more.”

Makela was previously awarded as the league’s top scorer in 2005. In three stints with HJK, where he also won three domestic titles, he has scored 64 goals in 129 matches.

He was handed the nickname “The Surgeon” around this time due to his clinical finishing. Coincidentally, his father was actually a surgeon.

Starting his career within his home-town team of Tervarit, Makela moved to HJK Helsinki for the 2003 season, scoring 33 goals in 66 appearances for the club over the next three seasons.

He signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Scottish side Hearts in 2006 where in 2007 he was loaned out to Swiss club FC Thun, before returning back to his former club HJK Helsinki in 2008 on an initial three month loan, which became a permanent return prior to the 2009 Veikkausliiga season.

Makela also represented the Finnish national team in 2004 but it was with Hearts that he played – and scored – against Ronaldinho’s Barcelona in a friendly match four years ago. 

"Barcelona was the best opponent I've played against," said Makela. "And this season with HJK we played against Besiktas, a top team in Turkey."

For Makela, this Christmas in Finland was a bone-chilling -30 degrees. Arriving on a typical summer’s day in Sydney, the pale Makela said it would be a challenge to adapt to a summer league after a career in the cooler climes of Iceland, Scotland and Switzerland.

“I want to improve and take my career forward step by step," he added, saying the A-League could be a stepping stone for him.

"And I want to play in the [Asian] Champions League. Those games will be very interesting.”

Whether those games will be played with coach Vitezslav Lavicka in the dug-out remained a point of speculation yesterday with rumours of the title winning coach’s sacking imminent – possibly even before Monday’s game.

However, the club told this website there was no truth in the rumour although there was a board meeting planned for later in January.

Makela added: “There are eight games left and 24 points at stake – the next game is Monday, it’s a new game, a new day and three points and we’ll take it from there.”

To see Juno Makela in Sydney...