Finland lost to Sweden in the floorball World Cup semi-finals and will play in the bronze medal match on Sunday. Urheilu’s experts Toni Lötjönen and Perttu Kytöhonka saw a lot of success in Finland’s game.
Before the Sweden semi-final, ‘s floor bandy experts Toni Lötjönen and Perttu Kytöhonka highlighted three important points in terms of deciding the match. Finland lost the semifinal in the penalty shootout and was out of the final for the first time since 2004.
Despite this, the experts saw many very successful areas in Finland’s presentation.
Finland’s chain changes
Finnish chains have lived through the tournament. In the semi-final, especially the second and first chain were under the magnifying glass.
– Peter Kotilainen brought a lot of danger to the second chain in the first set. That fielder lived a lot as the match progressed and more defensive skills were sought during the game, Kytöhonka analyzed after the match.
According to Lötjönen and Kytöhonga, the victory of the game was not up to the fielders.
– Salo’s number one chain has also received criticism. That first court was great, won its own game 2–0, Lötjönen tripped.
Finland intensified its play as the match progressed, when Kotilainen was dropped from the second chain.
– When the play was condensed and the pitches were changed, there was nothing to criticize about the changes. In the end, Kolmonen didn’t play at all, but the consolidation was successful, Lötjönen said.
Goalkeeper game
Finland has not had a clear number one goalkeeper in the tournament. Before the semi-final, there was speculation as to whether the goalkeeper would start Lassi Toriseva or Oskari Fälden. Toriseva played and was involved in several points in Finland’s game with her saves.
– I haven’t seen many such hard goalkeeping games in a place like this. The situation was difficult beforehand, when the clear number one was not so clear anymore, Kytöhonka opened up the situation after the match.
– Toriseva had a smile on her face even when going to the rinks, it was great to see. Virkaveli in Sweden’s goal was just as good, Lötjönen added.
Energizing the team
Finland had a day shorter preparation time for the semi-final after the quarter-final. There was speculation about the team’s fitness before the match.
– Tuning the team to the game was successful. Finland entered the first set and started the match on their own note. In this match it was extremely important. When the game started flowing to Sweden in a couple of moments, Finland took the match back according to its own game plan, Kytöhonka said.
Finland’s performances gathered criticism in the first section. The tournament has not been smooth, but there have been fluctuating performances.
– Petteri Nykky was once again able to tune out his team in the toughest place. Even though the result wasn’t positive, you can’t really blame that team or the coaching for this. In this moment, we got the best Finland that could be got, Lötjönen described in the arena.
– The criticism was valid after the first block. In this place, against really tough Sweden, once again a big success. Neither of the two great teams underperformed, Kytöhonka summed up the semifinal.