Huhkaji’s minor victories continued against Ireland as well. Markku Kanerva and Joel Pohjanpalo understood the violent reaction of the fans after the match.
The Finnish men’s national football team lost to Ireland 1–2 at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the Nations League. Finland has won one international match this year, when Estonia fell at home in the spring. Before the game, the Ireland match was considered a must-win.
The stakes were tough for the Nations League, as the defeat meant a jumbo place in the group. The Huhkajis are threatened with relegation to the C-League of the Nations League, where the weakest of the four-team group will be relegated.
After the match, the supporters of the Finnish national football team in the North Circle of the Olympic Stadium reacted strongly. They booed the team and sniffed at Pallloliito.
Before Finland, Ireland had won only three of their previous 15 games. Of these three victories, two have even come against Lilliputian Gibraltar.
Kanerva understood the violent reaction of the fans.
– We have set the bar so high that a lot is expected of us and that we would beat teams of Ireland’s caliber. That is our goal. The public has come to see a successful team. We were disappointing. You have to apologize for that, Kanerva stated.
– Supporters were important to us. We need encouragement the most when it’s hard. Some break out like that. There’s nothing to it. It belongs in this game.
Disappointment was present after the game.
– You can probably see from the expression that we are very disappointed. We knew Ireland were strong in special situations. They were able to equalize. We had the momentum to score another goal. We defended stupidly which resulted in Ireland’s second goal. A bitter defeat. We would have deserved more, but this is how raw football is, Kanerva said about the course of the match.
According to Kanerva, Finland had gone through problems with its playing during the break.
– Maybe we should have released the pressure through substitutions. Ireland defended the ball side quite strongly. We got stuck. We didn’t get balls behind the line to players with running power, Kanerva described.
– This should not have been lost. Our lead wasn’t far away, but then it hit me in the head.
According to Kanerva, Huuhkajat would have needed a result today, but unfortunately did not get it.
– Now we should start taking points, Kanerva said.
Finland’s key figures disappointed
Joel Pohjanpalo, who scored Finland’s goal, also understood the fierce reaction of the fans.
– Three losses in a row, it’s so natural that there will be comments. Unfortunately, this was not enough, Pohjanpalo stated and admitted that the “foxing” was great.
According to Pohjanpalo, Huuhkajat kept Ireland well out of scoring positions before the equalizer came from a lateral free kick.
– We had our own chances to score the lead. It was up to the little one. Futis is a marginal sport. I have asked for details. They decided today, Pohjanpalo said.
The hyped young star of the whiners Leo Walta was also naturally disappointed with ‘s interview point. Walta made Finland’s starting line-up for the first time.
– It’s sad. Hard to find words. We played quite well at times, Walta described.
– We became too passive defensively. We let them control the game too much. We weren’t on the ball that much and we weren’t able to attack that much. Maybe we defended too deep and should have changed our playing to be more aggressive.
Finland will next face England in the Nations League on Sunday. The world-famous team will meet at 19:00 at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.