Justus Kainulainen scored two goals against Norway. On Saturday, Finland will face Latvia, who defeated Switzerland, in the semifinals.
Jaakko Servo,
Hinn Hirvonen
13.12. 22:59•Updated 1:03
The Men’s World Floorball Championships will be held in Malmö, Sweden, from 7 to 15. december shows all matches in Finland on its channels.
Broadcast of the Finland–Latvia semi-final on TV2 on Saturday at 20:00.
Finland beat Norway 6–1 in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Norway started the match with a flurry, as they took the lead after only half a minute of play by Joachim Terjesen with a spectacular individual performance.
However, Finland recovered from this quickly and in no time at all, when Justus Kainulainen had led the team with two goals.
– The result of the previous game had a little effect on the preparation for the game, that I wasn’t quite ready at the beginning, Finland’s captain Nico Salo primed with Norwegian flash paint.
In the previous match, Finland had defeated rock-hard Sweden with a spectacular performance.
Finland’s “Classic field” led by Salo Eemeli Salin – Nico Salo – Sami Johansson has not scored goals in the tournament yet. However, that does not worry the captain.
– It’s not that important at this point. At the weekend, we will measure whether we are ready.
The debutants prepare for the semi-final in their own way
If the experienced guard hasn’t scored goals, the World Cup debutants have Luukas Hyvärinen and Juuso Ahola are – both managed to score against Norway. The latter was also awarded as the best in Finland.
According to Ahola, the time at the games has passed very quickly.
– We’ve been here for more than a week, and it feels like we’ve only been here for two days. Gotta enjoy these couple of days we have left with a great group.
Ahola and Hyvärinen have become a fighting pair in table tennis during the Games. In their free time, the members of the team reportedly do nothing but play “ping pong”.
There are familiar ways to prepare for the World Cup semi-final.
– A little ping pong, melatonin and good food, Ahola reveals about the future.
“Use the means of meditation”
In tomorrow’s semi-final, Finland will face Switzerland, who unexpectedly defeated Latvia today.
Latvia was a difficult opponent for Finland in the first match of the initial group. At that time, however, Finland won 4–3.
How will it be on Saturday, when big and physical Latvia will meet again?
– Latvia has played really well in this tournament. The World Cup semi-final requires good success from us, Salo prepares for Saturday.
Finland’s group has three games within 46 hours. The captain has ways to avoid exhaustion.
– Now you have to calm your mind and body as quickly as possible. Let’s use all the means of meditation so that we are ready tomorrow.
Finland’s head coach Esa Jussilan according to the players have been preparing for a hard pace of play all their lives.
– The guys are fine. They’ve been training for these situations since they were little, so I don’t see any problem with this.
The head coach comments on the upcoming semi-final opponent.
– We have to be much better on the ball. Certain legalities must be taken into account and be better.
The broadcast of the match between Finland and Latvia starts on TV2 on Saturday 14.12. at 20:00.