The Men’s World Floorball Championships will be played in Malmö, Sweden, from December 7 to 15. shows all Finnish matches on its channels. The first broadcast of the match between Latvia and Finland on TV1 on Saturday 7 December. from 12:25 p.m.
Who should you follow from the Finnish team?
Sports expert Perttu Kytöhonka highlights three Finnish players from different playing positions.
– Goalkeeper Oskari Fälden. Finland has traditionally had long-term number one goalkeepers. Now Fälden has the opportunity to take a strong position as Finland’s next long-term number one coach. The success of the goalkeeper is of great importance in terms of the success of Finland as a whole.
– Debutante Miska Mäkinen. He will probably get a big seam in a big role. As a player, Mäkinen is a brave and impressive ball defender. He is by no means a particularly physical player, but he is very cunning and good at stealing balls.
– Experienced Eemeli Salin. He will probably still be the first player whose name is put on paper when thinking about the competition team. He could walk into every national team among the first. The age (34) does not appear anywhere.
Finland’s strengths and weaknesses
Strengths:
1. Lots of individuals capable of solving problems
– You can’t rely on one or even two fields when thinking about the ability to solve problems.
According to Kytöhonga, Finland has been expected to play a certain way in the past. Not sure what to expect now.
– Now there is a group with a lot of attack-oriented players. It is a mystery what kind of Finland we will see in these games. I’m really looking forward to it myself.
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2. The game of superiority
– In previous international matches, you have seen that Jonah Rantalan in the lead, Finland has excellent overpowering players. All signs point to a team that will be strong with superiority. When we go to deciding games and the margins are small, the superiority is really significant.
3. Goalkeepers
– Oskari Fälden has been really strong in the F-League and he’s definitely ready for that level. Markus Laakso is a good second man. The goalkeeping department is quite strong in Finland.
Weaknesses:
1. Field hierarchy and dynamics
– What is Finland’s number one field? And which fielder plays with a defense-oriented grip? It’s not quite clear I think at the moment.
2. Inexperience of coaching at the World Cup level
– The head coach Esa Jussila has a lot of experience in the World Cup, both as a player and in the Swiss team as an assistant coach, but not yet as a head coach. For the rest of the coaching team (Antti Vartiainen, Jori Isomäki, Jarno Miracle) this is also a new situation.
3. Players not in a significant role in previous value competitions
– Only a handful of the players have previously played a significant role in the World Cup team. It raises a lot of question marks.
– After a process of about a year and a half, we have practically ended up with club-led pitches. It’s certainly fine if everything goes well, but if there are challenges, then the possibilities of the national team coaching to help the fields are quite limited.
4 x gold
7 x silver
3 x bronze
The Men’s World Cup has been played since 1996.
What about the toughest opponents?
Swedish
– Sweden is a clear early favorite, says Kytöhonka.
The head coaching duo Thomas Brottman – Niklas Norden is seeking a third consecutive gold medal. Sweden defeated Finland in the 2021 Helsinki final, and a year later in Zurich, the Czech Republic fell behind clearly 9–3.
– Sweden may have a slightly smoother generational change than Finland.
The Swedish federation announced that the games in December will be the last for the Swedish coaching team. The strong-willed coaching duo didn’t like this, and the defender among the players Niklas Ramirez already announced as a protest that he would leave the national team after the Malmö Games.
– The coach started a dumb school about it first in the direction of the media and then said that they are hearing about this for the first time. Coaching will likely use that as fuel with this team.
10 x gold
4 x silver
0 x bronze
The Men’s World Cup has been played since 1996.
Czech Republic
– The Czech Republic probably has the most balanced team development process going on, Kytöhonka estimates.
– The training has remained the same. The Czech Republic also has the same coaches and players as in the under-19 World Cup.
Czech young players are used to winning.
– However, the team is under pressure, as the most recent national matches have not gone brilliantly. I consider the Czech Republic the next hardest after Sweden.
0 x gold
2 x silver
3 x bronze
The Men’s World Cup has been played since 1996.
Switzerland
– Switzerland is thus a clear four in the starting situation. The team is also undergoing a generational change. Switzerland can be a really aggressive team without the ball and a very footy group.
0 x gold
1 x silver
7 x bronze
The Men’s World Cup has been played since 1996.
The most likely champion?
– Sweden is a clear favorite for this competition.
To win the tournament point exchange?
– Albin SjögrenSweden.
The 30-year-old Sjögren, who represents Zug United, leads the points exchange of the Swiss league NLA by far. The attacker has scored a whopping 43 points in 12 matches.
The best goalkeeper of the tournament?
– Oskari Fälden, Finland.