A FINNISH footballer is ready to hurt England – after overcoming a brain tumour.
Ilmari Niskanen, 26, looks set to line up for his country at Wembley in the Nations League on Tuesday night.
He is the only Finnish footballer currently plying his trade in England, playing as a wing-back for League One Exeter City.
But it could have been very different after he suffered a seizure aged 18, just before his national service.
A scan then revealed he had a brain tumour.
But, incredibly, Niskanen kept his cool and took the whole recovery process in his stride.
The 20-cap Finland international told The Times: “Of course, it was a big shock, but I was still reasonably relaxed with it.
“It was difficult, especially for my family and for my friends but for some reason I was actually quite stress-free.
“Throughout the process, I trusted the doctor.
“I felt like I was really kind of looking forward to the surgery, to get rid of the tumour.
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“I remember even the night before the surgery, I was feeling really good, and I was just glad that I could go through it now and get the tumour removed and live my life normally.
“The healthcare is so good that I was able to be so calm most of the time throughout the process.”
Niskanen recovered and headed out on loan before a £300,000 transfer to German third-tier outfit FC Ingolstadt.
But after losing his place in the starting XI, he missed out on a chance to represent his country at Euro 2020.
He then headed to British shores, initially with Dundee United for two years before completing the switch to Exeter last year.
And now he faces the tough task of trying to keep England’s attack quiet.
However, his hopes of taking on Phil Foden and ex-Exeter man Ollie Watkins were dashed as the duo withdrew from Lee Carsley’s first England squad.
And despite an impressive 2-0 win over Ireland in his opening game in interim charge, Niskanen sent a warning to Carsley.
He added: “We are definitely confident that we are able to challenge them.
“When I think about the Euros, for example, England were in the same group as Slovenia and drew.
“We had Slovenia in our group in the Euro qualifications. A little bit more than a year ago, we beat Slovenia 2-0.”
Niskanen added: “I love Finland so, so much. It’s just an incredible honour always to wear the shirt.
“When you hear the national anthem, it’s immediately the goosebumps. Always.
“Everyone’s going to be watching the England game. All of my friends are going to be watching. Pretty much the whole of Finland is going to be watching. It’s something so special for the whole country.
“Hopefully, one day, we will be in a major tournament again.”
Meet the Finland Wags
ENGLAND welcome Finland to Wembley on Tuesday night.
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