Cook Islander Paavo Tariu Mustonen helped Campbelltown City ‘Quake’ Futsal club football team win the recent New South Wales Futsal Premier League, a five-a-side indoor competition. At just 17, Paavo celebrated with his team after they won the final match 2-1 over Sydney’s Magic team.
Paavo trained under Australian national men’s Futsal coach Scott Gilligan and he says the experience doesn’t get better than this. “I loved every minute of the experience and will continue to work hard now that I’m back,” says Paavo.
Back home on Rarotonga, Paavo has more football action to look forward to as he joins the Black team in the Rarotonga five-a-side competition.
Paavo spent three months playing for the Quake team after he left to play for the club in December last year.
This was the second time he had played in Australia. At the end of 2005 he travelled to New South Wales to play with the Emu Plains team in the outdoor competition.
Overseas stints have included a term of four months playing in Germany last year. During his time there he also won a juggling competition, managing to keep the football alive for an hour and 15 minutes.
Paavo’s love for the sport of soccer began as a youngster when he followed his mother Kamuta to her soccer games while she played for the Arorangi women’s team.
Paavo loved his first taste of the game, started playing when he was nine years old and has never looked back. “I have a passion for it and it keeps me out of alcohol and drugs,” says the young man.
Paavo first started playing for Arorangi. He then moved to Nikao where he played in the under 13 team before moving to Tupapa. This year will be his fifth year with the side, his third in the senior A team. He is also a CIFA national representative.
Tupapa’s senior men’s coach Jimmy Katoa was full of praise for Paavo and says he is a great player who is always asking for advice, never misses training and is always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Katoa thanks Paavo’s parents Ari and Kamuta Mustonen for their support of Paavo and his love of the game.
Cook Islands Football Association technical director Tim Jerks says Mustonen’s capacity to train and play at high intensity and remain injury free will potentially open doors for the young player in the future.
“Mustonen is what we call a technical player due to the quality time he commits to training. Without dedication to this training time, it is highly unlikely Paavo would have been successful in such a competitive training and playing environment like the NSW Futsal Premier League,” says Jerks.
Paavo has a big football future in front of him and wants to continue playing the sport – his ultimate goal is to become a professional player.
He admires the flamboyant Brazilian football players, especially Ronaldinho who plays for FC Barcelona in Spain.
It’s certainly a long way from the Cook Islands, but this young man has nothing holding him back and with his obvious passion and zeal, there is no telling just where Paavo might end up