In the Men’s Futsal League, the champion changed after a long break.
The men’s Futsal league entered a new era on Saturday, when Akaa Futsal won the first Finnish championship in its history. It is the first time in seven years that the men’s championship is won by someone other than Jyväskylä’s Campus Dynamo.
KaDy celebrated the championship in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Four years ago, the SM gold was not awarded due to the season interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Akaa has come close to the championship in recent years, but success has been waiting for itself. Akaa won the championship Henrique Italo by hitting
– Faith has almost run out in the last few years. This was also the case during this game and overtime. When the last ball went over the end and I looked at the scoreboard, there was one second left. A spontaneous reaction came and I went to the ground to ventilate. Then I don’t remember anything more than that Aleksi Pirttijoki came on me to celebrate, Akaan’s goalkeeper and captain Kasper Kangas rejoiced.
The team’s goalkeepers played a big role in the 5th final.
– I got into the game well in the first period and made a few good saves. Both teams defended well. The two best teams in the series were facing each other, Kangas said.
Intala brought a culture of winning
Akaaa had players this season with experience of winning. Such players were, among others, the Intala brothers Tero and Jere. Among them, Tero’s Finnish championship was the sixth in a row.
However, Intala denies that she is some kind of good luck charm for Akaa. He reminds that Akaa has done good work in futsal for a long time.
– It has been a matter of time when this organization deserves a championship. Now it came, Intala stated.
Intala’s season has also included national team games. Intala was in the Finnish team in April, experiencing a bitter defeat to the Netherlands in the World Cup qualifiers.
In the end, Holland was better in the penalty shootout.
– I felt quite empty for a long time. We had to start playing these playoffs right away on the same weekend. Maybe it was good for all of us that we had to get back to the games right away. Of course, this makes a lot of sense.
The players were interviewed by Pauli Jokinen