The floor bandy world championship is a dream decision for a difficult Finnish sports year, writes Urheilu’s editor Jaakko Servo.
Jaakko Servo
How many could have believed after the first match of the difficult preliminary group that Finland will not lose even once in the tournament, and will rise twice from a losing position against Sweden to victory on their home field?
At least not me.
The floor bandy world championship is the fifth for Finnish men. During the 28-year history of the World Cup, no team had come from behind four goals in the final to win the championship.
Tukala opening game
Finland’s coaching was criticized on the eve of the Games because the World Cup team was largely assembled from club team players, and that the team had not necessarily been role-played correctly. Also the two-time defending world champion, tough Lauri Stenforsin34, the exclusion from the racing machine spoke.
The head coach Esa Jussilan after becoming the team’s head coach, Finland’s bally and fast game has been emphasized.
However, the opening game of the Games against Latvia looked anything but bally and fast. Finland defeated Latvia only with difficulty (4–3). Head coach Jussila also said after the match that the level of Finland’s game was really far from what was wanted.
In the second match of the preliminary group against Slovakia, Finland’s game falters again. In the final set, the goal taps opened, but in the end, Finland’s performance against the group’s “throw bags” was muted.
Turning point
Before the final match of the first group, there were many question marks in the air, how with a game performance of the level of the matches played against Latvia and Slovakia can even challenge Sweden’s star team playing on their home field.
In their first matches, Sweden crushed Slovakia 12–4 and Latvia 13–2.
Some certainly expected that Sweden would make fun of Finland.
However, large numbers of goals do not always mean anything. In the final game of the preliminary group against Sweden, we unexpectedly saw a completely different Finnish national team.
Finland stayed on the ball in the first group match and held Sweden to a mockery at times. The big brother vs. little brother setup was turned on its head in the first meeting and Finland celebrated the victory with a score of 5–2.
Before this, no team had been able to defeat Sweden on its home field in the World Cup.
When Finland’s game was in full swing, neither Norway nor Latvia, the surprise of the Games, had any opposition to it on the way to the final.
Finnish guts
In Sunday night’s final match, Sweden pushed to a championship-like 4–0 lead at the end of the second period.
At this point, the Swedish fans in Malmö Arena’s audience of more than ten thousand people were probably already wearing the golden hats familiar from the country’s ball-playing culture.
But whatever happened.
After this, we saw Finnish guts, which the defenders also mentioned in the interview Eemeli Akola and Miska Mäkinen emphasized and announced.
Finland’s number one backcourt, otherwise known as the “Oilers backcourt”, emerged when they were most needed. Heikki Iiskola shot the first Justus Kainulainen the next two, and Aaro Astala brought Finland up to par while Sweden’s defense fumbled.
The overtime was tied at 4-4.
In the second-to-last minute of overtime, Miska Mäkinen, a first-timer at the World Cup, joined the attack and fired the shot that decided the World Cup gold into Sweden’s net.
The last lock of the world championship was the goalkeeper Markus Laaksowho was replaced on the field when Sweden led by four goals. Laakso took care of its territory in style and did not concede a single goal in the final.
How did Finland, who struggled in the opening games of the initial group, get to this result, that it finally celebrated the world championship in Malmö?
The apt answer to this is the Finnish sisu, which this time was stronger than the Swedish tålamod (patience).
A positive end to the sports year
The world championship is a dream decision for a partly difficult Finnish sports year.
The difficult fall of the Huuhkajie of the Finnish national football team and the drop to the C level of the Nations League are fresh in the memory, not to mention the fiasco of the Summer Olympics in Paris and the change of management of the Finnish Olympic Committee following the poor success.
Not even in the Finns’ number one sport – ice hockey – there was no cause for celebration in the spring.
Now the Finns can proudly end the year 2024 by saying that they are at least the best in the world in floorball.