The Finnish women’s national football team Helmarit stretched its winning streak to three matches in the Nations League. Finland dominated the game with convincing power and beat Croatia 3–0.
Riku Porvari,
Jussi Vainikka
Helmarit will face Croatia for the second time in the League of Nations on October 31. The match will be shown live on TV2 and Areena from 17:57.
The Finnish women’s national football team Helmarit beat Croatia 3–0 in their third Nations League match. The opening goal was scored Linda Sällström and Final Readings San Francisco. The second goal went into the net from a Croatian defender.
Urheilu’s football expert Hanna Ruohomaa stated that Finland was superior in the match and eventually won by clear numbers.
– There was room for improvement, but it’s difficult to play against a team that just flows into its own penalty area. The 1–0 lead was not very safe, but luckily the team got two more goals, Ruohomaa assessed in the broadcast after the match.
Defender of Finland Elli Pikkujämsä said that Croatia’s non-existent press surprised the team.
– In the beginning we had problems breaking the Croatian bus. They had a good (defensive) block that worked against us, Pikkujämsä said.
Finland’s head coach Marko Saloranta stated that the team has agreed that low defense is allowed.
– We must be able to break through (the block), and not complain and sulk. However, that low block contributed to Croatia’s counter-attacks being missed. Although we dominated for long stretches and couldn’t break through all the time, we were ready to take away counterattacks from minute to minute, Saloranta estimated.
The Finnish women’s national team celebrated its 50th anniversary in the match. The various celebrations also included the fact that those who played in the team over the years escorted the team onto the field. Sällström, who scored the opening goal, scored the 57th goal of his national team career. He said that he had a good time at the festive match, where there were more than 7,000 spectators.
– It was festive to walk onto the field with the old Helmares. It was really special. I hope that I will be that kind of futs grandma when I grow up, Sällström said.
Sanni Franssi vented freely
‘s studio has experts Essi Sainio and Hanna Ruohomaa draw attention to the success of Sanni Franssi. The forward finished his fifth national team goal wonderfully.
– You probably can’t describe in words how important a goal like that is for a striker who hasn’t been able to play much lately. You could also see from the ventilation what it meant to Sanni. It is also good for the team that the players score goals on a wide front, Sainio said.
Franssi entered the field as a substitute in the 81st minute of the match. Ruohomaa described that the substitutes cheered up Finland’s game, when the team had been “butting its head against the defensive block” for a long time.
– One goal can change the course, bring a lot of self-confidence and create such a feeling for what you do. Great goal and good composure as he turned the ball onto his left foot and slotted past the keeper from the front corner. Very good input (From Eveliina Summas) also, Ruohomaa estimates.
You can see Franssi’s goal in the video at the beginning of the story.
With the win, Finland took a convincing lead in their group, while Romania and Slovakia played to a goalless draw on Friday evening. Finland’s next match is an away game in Croatia on October 31.
With a win, Finland can secure a group win and promotion to the A League of the Nations League, where they will face top European teams such as England, Spain and Sweden.
The Women’s Nations League is part of the European Championship qualifiers even more strongly than in the men’s national team football. Both the Nations League and the European Championship qualifiers are played as series-style competitions of three different levels, where the teams play a double series in groups of four teams.
Read more about the importance of the League of Nations at this link.
Helmarit will face Croatia for the second time in the League of Nations on October 31. The match will be shown live on TV2 and Areena from 17:57.