Niemi signs off with no regrets

Former Finnish international goalkeeper Antti Niemi has retired from football at the age of 36, saying: "I've got no regrets whatsoever."

Pride in achievements
Niemi has decided to end a career in which he shone for HJK Helsinki, FC København, Heart of Midlothian FC and Southampton FC, because a chronic wrist injury has denied him the chance to regain the goalkeeper's jersey at English Premier League side Fulham FC. "I'm proud of what I've achieved in football," the Oulu-born custodian said. "I've had good career in English, Scottish and international football. I got so much more from football than I could have ever wished for and that's the most important thing." A national-team debutant in November 1992, he earned 67 caps for his country, the last of which came in October 2007.

Career in Britain
Niemi started out at HJK, making 101 Finnish league appearances, before joining København in 1995. After two seasons in Denmark, he headed to Rangers FC but got more opportunity to shine in Scotland with Hearts, for whom he played 89 Premier League games between 1999 and 2002. Southampton brought Niemi to the English top flight that year and he turned out 106 times for the south-coast club in the league before a transfer to Fulham in 2005/06. Injuries restricted him to 62 Premier League outings for the Londoners. 

National-team goal
Looking to the future, Niemi said: "One day I would like to get in with the Finnish national team to do some goalkeeping coaching. But I would like to wait, for a few reasons. First, I would like to give my wife one or two years to find out what she wants to do because she's been following me for 13 years, brought up two kids and has done a fantastic job. Also, I wouldn't want to work with the national team right at this minute because there are so many former team-mates still around and I want to get a bit of distance."