Selvisi tuon ranskankielisen Klubi-tilin tausta.
https://x.com/Maalifrancehttps://x.com/HJK_frNear Pont-Audemer, Ethan Duclos has developed his own media outlet specializing in Finnish football.
A passionate fan of Nordic football, Ethan Duclos has specialized in the Finnish league. With his media outlet, Maali, he covers local news and dreams of moving to Finland.
Going outside in six-degree weather (and probably even colder with the wind chill) wearing just a Finland jersey—only Ethan Duclos would do that. At just 19 years old, this young resident of Saint-Pierre-des-Ifs (Eure) is passionate about football. But what really excites him is the football of the North. Finnish football, to be precise. The kind played on artificial turf between snowfalls.
"Before discovering the local league, I first became interested in the country," smiles Ethan. "I saw that it was the happiest country in the world (Editor's note: Finland was voted the happiest country in the world in 2025 for the eighth consecutive year). That intrigued me a lot, so I did some research." So much so that the young man from Saint-Pierre-des-Ifs now dreams of living in the land of a thousand lakes. But for him, putting football aside is out of the question. He then immersed himself in Veikkausliiga matches, the Finnish league, starting in 2022. “It’s a far cry from flashy football. The clubs don’t have much money compared to those in the major European leagues. So they try to compensate by playing promising young players. This allows them to discover young prospects before anyone else, like Naatan Skyttä, who came through Dunkirk and currently plays for Kaiserslautern, or Tuomas Olilla, now with Paris FC in Ligue 1. Beyond that, it’s a more technical league, less tactical or physical. It’s different from what you see in France.”
A lover of grassroots football
After falling in love with the country, he fell in love with its football. It was only natural that Ethan, who is studying for a Bachelor of Technology in Information and Communication at the University of Le Havre, would launch his own media outlet to share his passion in French. “I met someone named Tobias Garnier completely by chance on social media. He told me about his work on Nordisk Football, another French media outlet that covers news from all the Nordic leagues on social media. He had also developed an account for IFK Norrköping, a Swedish club, whose news he covered in French. So I thought, ‘Why not give it a try!’ People are often surprised when I tell them all this,” Ethan laughs. “Digital fans know a few Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish clubs because those leagues get a bit more attention, but rarely Finnish ones.”
Through Maali (which means goal in Finnish), his media outlet, Ethan Duclos offers exclusive content. On his website, you can find interviews with key figures in local football (players and coaches), as well as news articles (transfers, rumors, statements) and summaries. Comprehensive coverage, then, which occupies most of his free time. "It's difficult to estimate how much time I spend on it. Sometimes an hour, sometimes eight. I watch between three and four matches a week, depending on my availability. After that, I follow the news on social media. To get some confidential information, I've managed to make contacts with players, coaches, agents, and staff at certain clubs. I also closely follow the sports media there and the journalists who work there." Ethan met Tuomas Ollila, a Finnish player for Paris FC, at the Stade Océane last Sunday.
The language barrier
In addition to Maali, Ethan also developed an X account (formerly Twitter) about HJK, the most successful club in the country with 33 league titles, based in Helsinki, the capital. He covers all the news about the Finnish club there, always in French. But the young man from Saint-Pierre quickly encountered the language barrier. “I know a few words, especially related to football, like 'voitto,' which means victory, for example. I'm trying to learn the language, but it's extremely difficult.”
"It's complicated. Statistically speaking, in Finnish, there are over a hundred variations of the word for dog. It's pretty crazy." But football remains a universal language. A world where you don't need to speak or understand each other to feel the thrill. "I think one of my best memories is when HJK lost 4-0 away to NSI Runavik in the Faroe Islands during the first qualifying round of the Conference League this season... but in the return leg, HJK staged an incredible comeback, winning 5-0 at home at the Bolt Arena."
A dream of going to Finland
To round out his range of services, Ethan also does some scouting. This practice involves watching football matches or even attending training sessions when possible to scout players based on a club's needs. Ethan does it to identify players with high potential and stay ahead of the curve. "It's difficult to access second or third division matches in France, whereas I only watch highlights. Thanks to this and the statistics, I notably spotted Elias Kallio, who was playing for Käpä in the Ykkosliiga (the second division) and who has just been transferred to AC Oulu, which plays in the top flight." Today, Ethan hopes to go further by perhaps securing an internship at a Finnish club or simply by creating videos for social media.
