The Finnish women’s national football team will continue the World Cup qualifiers away in Ireland on Thursday. Emma Koivisto will face several of her teammates from the ranks of Liverpool.
Jussi Vainikka,
Hinn Hirvonen
Finland will meet Ireland in the World Cup qualifying away match in Dublin on Thursday at 21:00. Live broadcast of the match on TV2 and Areena from 20:45.
The Finnish women’s national football team is in a tough spot in Dublin on Thursday. Helmarit needs three points from the match if they want to stay involved in the fight for the next World Cup qualifying place.
The task is not made easier by the fact that the home team Ireland is supported by an audience of 8,000 people, as the match was sold out in just half an hour.
Finland does not agree to take pressure.
– It’s amazing that so many people are coming there. Personally, I only get energy, the more audience there is. Cool to see the game sold out so quickly. Although it is a so-called forced win, it does not change anything in practice. We’re going to win every game, Fullback Emma Koivisto acknowledge.
Ireland is second in Group A, one point ahead of Finland. The team claimed three points from Helsinki in October when they beat Helmarit 2–1 at the Olympic Stadium. Finland’s position is made even more difficult by the fact that in the last round it is against Sweden, while Ireland will face the weaker Slovakia beforehand.
– Yes, I missed that first match at home. I had the feeling that we could have scored points from the first game, Koivisto admits.
Sweden has secured the win in the group and a place in the World Cup. The runner-up of the group advances to the further qualification.
The Ireland match is the Helmarei’s first under the new head coach Marko Saloranta under. Anna Signeulin the contract was terminated after the European Championships.
Saloranta, who previously coached the youth national teams, brought several first-timers to the team and is already a familiar man to almost the entire team.
– It has made it easier that everyone knows who “Make” is and have perhaps even been under Make’s coaching at some point, midfielder Jenny Danielsson says.
For big clubs
Many times Helmarit doesn’t have time to practice under Saloranta’s watchful eye before the actual venue. For Emma Koivisto, who moved to Liverpool in the summer, a little help in the short preparation can be the fact that Ireland, which hosts players from the English Super League, is full of familiar players.
– I calculated that I know five or six players from them. It’s fun to play against friends. We joked in Liverpool before leaving for the camp that how would we get the other team’s players injured so they wouldn’t come. Fortunately, no one put their words into practice, Koivisto laughs.
Koivisto, who switched from Brighton to league-promoting Liverpool, has been satisfied with his new club. The new season of the Superliga starts on Saturday next week.
– I have really enjoyed the football we play. The style suits me. I have played as a wing-back, which I enjoy. The season will be challenging as a new player, but the training season has gone well, says Koivisto.
Jenny Danielsson also moved to one of the giant clubs in the British Isles in the summer. He changed Stockholm’s AIK to the Scottish league and Glasgow Rangers shirt. The move became relevant when Maiju Rootsalainen was allowed to leave the position of AIK’s head coach, and the ideas of the new coaching did not agree with Danielsson.
– We simply did not agree with all the things they had in their plans. At the time of the European Championships, a few teams inquired about their interest, and Rangers were the one who seemed to want me the most, Danielsson times.
Rangers are playing in the women’s Champions League for the first time and aim to win every competition in their home country. Danielsson estimates that the Scottish league as a whole is not the same as the Swedish Damallsvenskan, but in the big clubs women are heavily invested. Rangers won the first championship in their history in the spring.
– There is still unevenness in the series, but the matches between the top five are tough. I wouldn’t say that our team could really win the league on foot, says Danielsson.
Anna Signeul, the former head coach of the Helmares, had a long-term influence in Scotland. Danielsson says that Signeul had no part or lottery for the transfer.
– I tried to store information as long as possible, because I knew that everyone knows Anna and Anna knows everyone in Scotland. I didn’t want further opinions, but to make a decision myself. I only announced when I was 100% sure of what I was doing.
Finland will meet Ireland in the World Cup qualifying away match in Dublin on Thursday at 21:00. Live broadcast of the match on TV2 and Areena from 20:45.