Brest bet on Jere Uronen | OneFootball

The first Nordic player to play for Stade Brestois 29, Finnish international Jere Uronen has taken some time to make his mark in Brittany. Now recovered from an ankle injury sustained against France in September (2-0), all the signs are positive for the left-back. Profile...

The 27-year-old left-back arrived in Brest at the end of July after making his professional debut in Sweden (Helsingborgs) and then playing more than five years with Genk in Belgium. His task in Brittany was to fill the big gap in the squad left by Romain Perraud, who transferred to Southampton, while adapting to a new championship. "The style of play is very similar to the one in Belgium, but everything is at least a notch higher," explained the Finn. "Every week we play against a very good team, against very good players." Revival

A starter when he arrived at Stade Brestois 29, he suffered from the comparisons with his predecessor and struggled to adapt. His ankle injury during Finland's 2022 World Cup qualifying defeat to France in September didn't help, and he made only a few appearances as Brest's performances went from bad to worse. However, after recovering from his injury, Uronen was on the bench for the victory against AS Monaco (2-0) - the first of the season for Michel Der Zakarian's men - and back in the starting line-up for the 2-1 derby win

FC LORIENT - STADE BRESTOIS 29 (1-2) / Highlights (FCL - SB29) 2021/2022

Uronen has appeared seven times since the start of the season and is particularly effective in the challenge, having won 71% of them overall and 63% of his aerial challenges. Getting in the swing "We weren't bad, we just needed a little something (...). I know the ambition of the club and the qualities of the group. I know we can do so much better," explained Uronen, whose family is starting to feel at home in Brittany, with his three-year-old son going to school and everyone enjoying French cuisine. "Everything tastes so good... In Finland, it's easy to cook the dishes, but they're bland. In France, even the simplest dishes are full of flavour." This enthusiasm has also come out in his tenure with the Finnish national team, where he made his debut in 2012, at the age of 17, making him the third-youngest player to earn his first cap with the Eagle-owls. After years in the doldrums, Finland participated in their first-ever European Championship this summer, to great popular acclaim. However, "football has never been the number one sport in Finland", where ice hockey reigns supreme. 'Nothing to lose' Euro 2020 was no picnic for Finland, who went out in the group stage. And the opening 1-0 victory over Denmark, with an assist from Uronen, was overshadowed by the heart attack suffered by Denmark's Christian Eriksen. "There were no celebrations in the dressing room, no shouts of joy, everyone was on their phones looking for news about Eriksen. I spoke for a long time with a Danish friend," recalled Uronen. "We were thinking about everything except the result." The Euros did however whetted his appetite and now the Finn has set the objective of helping Finland qualify for a first World Cup, which would require a result against already qualified group leaders France on Tuesday. "We're going to give it our all! And if it doesn't work this year, we'll try again next time, and again the time after. We have nothing to lose," said the defender, whose side can make sure they pip Ukraine to second  place in the group with a result against Mbappé and co. "We will be stronger at home. We can really make life difficult for them. And playing in Finland in November is not easy when you are not used to it."

Uronen and his Eagle-owls take on Les Bleus at the Helsingin Olmypiastadion at 20:45 CET (19:45 GMT) on Tuesday night.

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