A group win would warm the Helmarei in the freezing cold – Olga Ahtinen will be sidelined

The Helmarii have the opportunity to secure their promotion to the A League of the Nations League when Finland meets Romania in Turku. Suffering from a collateral ligament injury, Olga Ahtinen is on the sidelines for the upcoming matches.

The Finnish women’s national football team will have an icy task in Turku next Thursday. According to the forecast of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, it will be at least ten degrees below zero in Turku when Helmarit meets Romania in the League of Nations.

– Yes, we can handle the weather, but the weather is probably a bigger shock for Romania, Helmarie’s head coach Marko Saloranta laughed on Wednesday in Helsinki at the team’s announcement event.

Compared to the previous national team group, there are three new players in the team. Goalkeepers are getting into the helmets Anna Koivunen as well as midfielders Emmi Siren and Vilma Koivisto.

Midfielder representing Tottenham Olga Ahtinen is sidelined from the team due to a collateral ligament injury. He is expected to return to the field next year.

With a win over Romania, Finland would secure victory in its group and promotion to the A-league of the toughest countries. Helmarit has won all four matches in the B-league with a convincing goal difference of 10-0. Having collected one point from their four matches, Romania is at the bottom of the group.

– Many may consider the match to be easy in advance, but Romania is by no means an easy opponent. They have conceded only five goals in their previous seven games, Saloranta pointed out.

Finland will play its final match on December 5 in Slovakia.

Now we are already looking for stills for the EC qualifiers

The upcoming EC qualifiers will also be played in AC leagues. The League of Nations determines in which league the team is in the European Championship qualifiers. An ascent to the highest level would give Helmarii at least a further qualification spot for the European Championship.

– We want tough matches for February and get to choose our opponent. Of course, there are quite a few free countries in Europe, so we may have to find an opponent from outside Europe as well. We have to be ready in April, when the EC qualifiers start, Saloranta said.

At Helmari, we think about things in the long term.

– Everything we do serves to ensure that we participate in the 2025 European Championships and achieve results in the Games. The route to the Games will be more humane if we move up to the A-League. That way we would have a spare cartridge when we at least get to the further qualifiers, Saloranta explained.