Jani Korpela grew up wanting to become a dancer and now works in a profession in which balletic feet and flashy pirouettes are central.

Housed in a city which gave birth to WWE superstar Kane, the 26-year-old nevertheless uses his equivalent of the Tombstone Piledriver to neutralise the gods of the game. One of them, the great Pito, called Korpela “one of the toughest opponents you can face”.

The Inter FS enforcer, who is also accomplished with the ball at his feet, discusses, among other topics, Finland’s heroics at the last European finals and their quest to beat the Netherlands and reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup™ for the first time.

What was your childhood dream?
Jani Korpela: A lot of kids dream of being a doctor or an astronaut or something. I was always drawn towards ball sports, but I really admired dancers. I always say that if I hadn’t found futsal, I would be a dancer. Maybe in another life!

Who were your futsal idols?
I had a lot. The first was Falcao. I watched a lot of his videos. Then came Ricardinho. I had the pleasure of playing against him a few times. Those two were the idols I watched the most. But in terms of my position, Carlos Ortiz was the guy I watched the most. He was an incredible defender.

You’re renowned as one of the best tacklers and toughest defenders in the world…
It’s in my nature that I prefer making a good tackle than scoring a goal or making an assist. I’m a pretty calm person, but when I’m on the court a switched is flicked on and I like to play rough towards my opponent. Let’s put it like this: I don’t want to give them an easy life. In football, in futsal, I’ve always been the guy who does the dirty work. I really enjoy the physical side of things.

At Finland’s first UEFA EURO in 2022, you managed to finish above two-time champions Italy and reach the quarter-finals. How was that experience?
Incredible, amazing, unbelievable. It’s something that I will never forget. It was one of my best campaigns on a personal level, and one of the best campaigns we have ever seen from Finland. We did an amazing job. I only have positive memories from it. I’m sure all of the players, every member of staff would say the same. Now we want more. We want to be at the World Cup. We have the Netherlands in the play-offs and I hope we can achieve another milestone for Finland.

What do you think of the Netherlands team?
I’ve never played against them or any teams from the Netherlands, but we’ve watched videos of them. They have a lot of quality. They have a lot of different strategies. They can play with a pivot or a four-zero. They have really fast guys and very technical players. They’re very good in one-against-one situations. That could be a problem for us.

Finland beat China, Czech Republic and Slovakia to win the Yulin International Tournament. How much confidence has this given you heading into the play-offs?
We had a lot of new guys in the team, and we were missing some important players, so they were great results for us. It was great preparation for the play-offs. We feel good, there’s great spirit in the squad, and we’re more than ready for the games against the Netherlands.

What did you think of Olli Poylio’s lob?
What a way to score your first goal for Finland! He did a great job. He deserved it. Now the battle’s over [to break his duck], I hope he will start scoring regularly.

Alongside yourself, Henri Alamikkotervo also plays in Spain. How do you rate him as a player?
I’ve played against him a few times, and alongside him for the national team a lot of times. I think he has big potential to be the best player for Finland. He still needs some time, but he’s already a top player. I think he will evolve in Spain.

How confident are you that Finland will reach Uzbekistan 2024?
One-hundred per cent. I acknowledge that we need to work very hard every day to make it. Every guy in the squad needs to work hard. Results don’t come for free. But we’re really, really confident in ourselves.

What would reaching the FIFA Futsal World Cup mean to the people of Finland?
When we played Italy in our first game at the EURO, it was unbelievable how big it was. Everyone was sending us messages on social media. The number of messages we got off random people was mind-blowing. That was before the game, before we had done anything. It was a truly amazing feeling. After the game everyone was congratulating us. Finnish people are very proud. That EURO was huge in Finland. This is the World Cup. It is even bigger. I can only imagine how unbelievable it would be.