Venadense is enjoying his first days in the cold city of Oulu.

Leandro Palomiere

Benjamin Giovannioli is 25 years old, he is from Venado Torto, he obtained his degree in Kinesiology and Natural Medicine from Universidad del Gran Rosario in 2019 and since his graduation he has worked in Rosario.

A football player, grandfather, and a fan of Boca Juniors, recently arose the possibility of going to work in distant Finland, in a city called Oulu, and at the club that plays in the third division of football in that country, OTPUnited.

Giovannioli has settled in that city for a few days, is already working in the institution, and two other Argentine players have arrived with him to strengthen their ranks.

In an interview with El Litoral from the capital of the northern Ostrobothnia region, Giovagnoli said, “I have worked privately and in an office in Rosario that specializes in treating injuries, and this year has come with new expectations and commitments.” He added, “I received the offer to come to Finland and it was very difficult to refuse. Associated with the OTP United club from the city of Oulu, where a new project was created, the coaching staff was changed, many players in the team were changed, and they needed the world of movement, to treat more than nothing injury.Prevention and rehabilitation of players during the year.Through close contact Through the family company, he proposed to me, I thought about it for a few days and quickly accepted it, because I have never had the opportunity to live abroad and that means accepting new challenges, trying to develop myself and grow professionally.”

And that he considered it “a huge challenge to reach a different culture, away from my family and friends, which is very difficult for a young man like me. I was also very excited about the fact of working with a human group like the football team.”

Young Venadense arrived at the club founded in 1946 and will be responsible for “rehabilitating the club’s staff, with the idea, as far as possible, of developing the business in the future so that I can set up my own office. And continue to work in kinesiology here in Finland”.

Giovannioli arrived in Oulu on the afternoon of January 19 “I found the weather very cold, it snows constantly, the temperatures are very low and we have to be very careful about this. It is a very respectable civilization, people respect everything, I have found a very organized system in the city” And that he lives with two new players in the squad, who came with him from Argentina, Ignacio Falcon, from Bahwago and Paolo Ippolito from Villa Constitucion.

“Finnish and English are spoken here, so we are dealing with English, which we know more or less. The city is very beautiful, with a population of almost 200,000, it is a university city,” he said, adding that in winter now “there” Very few hours of daylight, because it rises at ten in the morning and at four it is practically at night. . . They seem to be short days, but they are not, because when it gets dark you have to keep doing things.”

OTP United is located in the third division and, like many clubs in Finland, has suffered a crisis due to the epidemic, “that’s why they are re-arming and the idea of ​​the project is to rise and get a good player base. In the team there are “other Argentine players and several players from Here, because they require that there be 6 Finnish players on the field, but there are also other foreigners.”

Benjamin stated that the tournament will start “at the beginning of April, and the preparation for the season will start in the first days of February. It will be completely new for me, because I have never worked in a football team, and I have no indication of what Finnish football is. They told me that it is not up to Second or third division of Argentine football I will work with the physical coach, who is the one who prepares all the training sessions. I will try to work on the prevention of injuries, pointing out some techniques and tips so that the players can manage themselves and have a good level of control of the muscular system structural in order to train and avoid injuries.”

Friend of Facu Pons

Benjamín Giovagnoli played football for the Centenario Lower Divisions, teaming up with Facundo Pons, the current Arsenal player who recently passed through Quilmes. “Facu belongs to my group of friends, we went to school together and played in Centenario, it’s a phenomenon,” said Venadense of Oulu, the fifth largest city in Finland and the largest and therefore most important in the north of that country.