Was it difficult to play professional football in far away Bremen?
Life had to go on, but it certainly has a major impact when you lose your mother. Playing in Bremen was okay. What was difficult was returning to Finland for Christmas. Then it was really clear that she was gone.
Looking pack over seven years, there were certainly strange matches. Which ones do you recall?
Right at the top for me was the 8-1 victory against Arminia Bielefeld. We had already made three substitutions and goalkeeper Tim Wiese was a bit injured at the end. The coach pointed to me that I should go into goal if Wiese couldn't continue. I kept going to Wiese and told him that he should go out. That would have been huge for me, playing keeper one time. Then I would have played everywhere. And the Bundesliga hasn't seen a lot of Finnish goalkeepers. Besides, nothing could have happened, we were already leading 7-1. I could have done it. But Wiese didn't want to leave. I really regret that. It would have been a great story.
How was the relationship to the fans in the last seven years?
Werder have good fans, but you could see a change during my time. Today the spectators expect a lot more than in 2004. They are impatient much quicker. Maybe that's normal after six years of the Champions League. But you have to give the fans a compliment for the past couple months. They realised that they have an impact on the team, that it would be twice as tough without their support. They were very positive.