Puustinen hankers for Honka stardom

Jami Puustinen may not have made the grade at Manchester United FC, but the young striker is scoring for fun back in Finland at FC Honka Espoo.

Old Trafford calls
In the summer of 2003, Puustinen was part of the Finland squad that played at the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals on home soil, and did enough to persuade United to take him to Old Trafford the same year. However, at 19, the club decided to release him, and he returned to Finland in the spring of 2006 to join Honka, scoring five goals in his first season and eight last year.

In his stride
Now 21, Puustinen is hitting his stride in 2008 having scored five times in three pre-season League Cup games, and he feels that a change of style is helping the goals to flow. He said. "I have changed my play to be a little bit more aggressive and it seems to be working well. Good passes from midfield are important, but nowadays I'm also able to keep the ball better once I get it."

Increased competition
The top scorer in the traditional pre-season tournament so far, Puustinen admitted he was enjoying his rich vein of form. "It's a well-known fact that getting results is a great boost to your self-confidence," he said. However it could be that the strength of the striking force at Honka – recently boosted with the signing of Hermanni Vuorinen – has had an influence too.

Vuorinen returns
Vuorinen, who has returned from Norway after a spell with Fredrikstad FK, is a big name at Honka having scored 16 goals in just 17 games in the 2006 season for the club. The tall 23-year-old could be tough competition for Puustinen, who said: "Hermanni is a top-class striker. Everyone wants to be the number one goalscorer in the team but results are what count at the end of the day."

Important year
Vuorinen's return represents Honka's biggest coup of the winter, and while few can imagine them improving on their fourth-placed league finishes in 2006 and 2007, Puustinen is optimistic. "Our game has been improving all the time in the League Cup," he said. The final will be played in mid-April two weeks before the start of the 2008 league campaign. If his goalscoring form continues, it could prove to be a big year for Puustinen.