The Finnish women’s national football team’s World Cup qualifying match with Sweden has no sporting stakes, but for interim head coach Marko Saloranna, the win would be significant for the future, writes Urheilu’s Hinni Hirvonen.
Finland will meet Sweden in the final match of the World Cup qualifiers in Tampere on Tuesday, September 6 at 7 p.m. Live broadcast on channels.
The sight in Dublin on Thursday night was inconsolable for Finns. When the top referee Stephanie Frappart blew his whistle to signal the end of the World Cup qualifying match, the almost 7,000-strong Irish audience was torn from its joints. The Irish women’s national football team had achieved a feat in front of a record crowd that it had never been able to do before. The 1–0 victory over Finland meant that the team secured its place in the World Cup play-off for the first time.
Some of the players fell to their knees in happiness. Just a few years ago, the team was struggling for the union in the hope of better conditions, (you move to another service) so that instead of the uniforms shared with the youth national teams, they would receive their own tracksuits and financial compensation for having to be away from work due to national team representation duties.
Now Ireland had defeated a team better than before in the qualifiers no less than twice.
Freed from desire, combined with the eager squealing of hundreds of little girls, will certainly not be forgotten immediately even in a Finnish camp. The faces of the Finnish players showed inconsolation and huge disappointment. The dream of the World Cup had slipped out of control, once again.
A frustrated top defender Natalia Kuikka didn’t mince his words after the match.
– We played with a slightly different grouping, but in the end it’s not about that, but about us players. We have to want to win and want to play better. It’s not enough for us to play at the moment. Ireland were clearly better today.
Kuikka, who plays for Portland in the NWSL, one of the world’s top leagues, is used to fighting against the world’s best players in his everyday life. Many of Ireland’s players play in Europe’s currently strongest league in England, but Ireland is not one of the top teams in the world.
Kuika’s pain after the match, known as a perfectionist, was palpable.
– You can’t just stand with the ball. There has to be more aggressiveness and tempo, and of course you have to be harder in the second box as well.
After the European Championship place was decided, the Helmareite union has waned. The past year has been difficult. The loss was already the sixth in a row, the eighth overall this year. This year, Helmarit has only managed to beat Georgia, who is in the 126th place in the world ranking, i.e. about a hundred places below Finland.
Despite the recent poor results, the players assured the media on Monday that the spirit in the team is good.
Finland has scored 14 goals in the seven matches it has played in the World Cup qualifiers. For comparison: Ireland has scored 25 times in the same period, and Sweden, who secured victory in the World Cup qualifying group, scored 15 goals in Georgia’s net alone in one evening.
Of course, Helmare’s opponents have been the best in the world in the European Championships and in the preparation for them. The matches showed that Finland is far from the top of Europe, but Thursday night showed what has been a fear for a long time. Women’s football is growing at a tremendous pace in the world, and Finland is falling behind.
When the Dutch pilot Vera Pauw became Ireland’s head coach in 2019, the team was ranked 32nd in the world rankings. Under Pauw, Ireland has climbed six places in the list, all the way to the top 16 countries in Europe. The 26th place in the world ranking is the team’s best ever.
When the World Cup qualifying groups were drawn in 2021, Finland was at its best 24th in the world rankings. Now the team is ranked 29th, and the curve is pointing downwards. Above you can find, for example, Scotland and Portugal, which the Helmareites defeated in the European Championship qualifiers.
It would be unfair to knock out the one who became the temporary head coach of Helmareit Marko Saloranta based on one match, especially when there was a princely four days to prepare. The team had time to practice together twice before the decisive World Cup qualifying game.
No miracles can be done in that time. Saloranta planned quite moderate changes in advance, and they remained quite moderate. There were no significant surprises in the starting lineup, and for example, none of the first-timers made their debut.
The same familiar problems continued: there were problems with defending the box, and Finland could not create enough dangerous goal chances.
Now that the World Cup qualifying spot has slipped out of control, the question is whether Saloranta is the right person to pilot Finland to the European Championships in 2025 – which Finland has applied for the right to organize together with the other Nordic countries.
– Everything will be beaten until the turn of the year. In some work position, life goes on.
The Saloranta contract is valid until the end of the year. The head coach revealed that double country matches have been planned for the team in the November country match window. The temporary pilot will therefore be able to do experiments even after the Sweden match.
Although there is no more sporting stakes in the match against Sweden, which concludes the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, records will probably be broken.
Palloliitto’s marketing has worked hard to break the attendance record for the women’s competition qualifiers in Tampere. A program has been built around the match, right down to the Frenckell bells playing the tune of Oi Suomi on.
A week before the match, the association announced that a record number of tickets for the match had been sold. On Monday, 6,500 tickets had already been sold.
The record crowd won’t be able to witness the confirmation of the WC qualification place, but they can see great emotions.
In the summer European Championships, Finland had the second oldest team of the Games, right after Sweden. The number one guard refers to years of wear Hedvig Lindahl, 39, was left out of the national team after the EC disappointment. Captain Caroline Seger37, is out for at least the rest of the season due to injury. Nilla Fischer38, already refused the European Championships citing family reasons, and his name was not found on the national team list in the autumn World Cup qualifying game either.
About helmers Essi Sainion, 35, and Anna Auvinen, 35, the end of the national team careers was announced shortly before the World Cup qualifying team was announced. Tuija Hyyrynen34, the name was not found on the list and Hyyrynen, who is without a club, told Urheilu that he is thinking about the continuation of his playing career.
For women, the national team compensation is more significant than for male players who earn more, but losing a place in the World Cup will probably make the remaining champions at least think about the continuation of their national team career. The next prestigious tournament is not expected until the summer of 2025, but then it will of course be played on home ground, if the application of Finland and the Nordic countries goes through.
After the match against Ireland, received harsh criticism in the local media Tinja-Riikka Korpela would be 39 years old at the European Championships in three years, continuing his medical studies in Sweden Linda Sällström on the other hand, 37.
The Tottenham goalkeeper assured during the Sweden match that he will continue in the national team duties as long as the national team needs him.
However, in the World Cup qualifiers, the captain has also been seen fumbling, which has made many wonder whether Katriina Talaslahten or Anna Tamminen time to get decent screen positions in the national team.
Sällström was the second best scorer in the EC qualifiers with ten hits. In the World Cup qualifiers, Helmareite’s all-time best scorer has scored twice.
Played the most international matches of all time (146). Anna Westerlund33, is great with long passes, but is speed enough at the international level?
And if Saloranta, who has been talking about raising young players for years, were to continue as the head coach of the A national team, would the konkars be part of his plans?
The lack of an athletic contribution increases the chances of seeing new faces in the Helmaripaida, even though Saloranta did not at least promise the debutants direct spots for the opening game on Monday. A total of five new faces were named to the World Cup qualifying team: I am and Emmi Siren, Emma Peuhkurinen, Joanna Tynnilä and lastly Anni Miettunen.
In the Tampere evening, there is also an opportunity to make almost sports history. Finland has been able to defeat Sweden only once during 38 encounters, and it will soon be 50 years since this victory.
A win would also boost the interim head coach’s stock.
Broadcast of the World Cup qualifying match between Finland and Sweden starting at 18:45 on the Teema Fem channel, Areena and the app.