All goals and moment-by-moment follow-up of the World Cup qualifying match between Finland and Holland in this article.
On Wednesday, the Finnish men’s futsal team gave its new record audience a crazy treat in Vantaa.
The match was the best possible advertisement for a fast-paced sport. This is why it is loved in many intense ball-playing cultures, such as the Balkans and South America.
There is no similar match for, for example, Finland’s most experienced gambler, who played professionally in Italy Jukka Kytölä35, came to mind.
In the second leg of the further qualification, Finland was locked in the first World Cup place in its history, until the Netherlands Ayoub Bukhari tied the score at 3-3 barely six seconds before the end of regular time.
Finland, on the other hand, tied the score at 4–4 in the overtime match with one second left on the clock.
In the end, Holland won in a penalty shootout and grabbed the race tickets. Suomen is the only player who failed in his ranking Justus Kunnaswas completely broken after the match.
Read more: Finland’s unlucky warrior cried and handed out autographs: “I feel like I’ve let the whole country down”
From the individual thriller, it is necessary to move on to the examination of a larger script.
Getting this close to the World Championships in such a competitive sport, when only seven countries from Europe qualify for the Games, is of course a great achievement.
Above all, however, the competition venue would have been just a logical continuation of the work that Finland’s small sports circles have been doing for a decade.
It so happened that Finland missed the best and easiest opportunity ever. The World Cup spot was handed to Finland on such a bright silver platter that it is a farce to drop it.
A logical continuation
Finland’s rise to a national futsal team to be reckoned with was personified by a Croatian wizard to Mico Marticwho arrived as head coach in 2013.
Leading players, such as the legend of the sport, also played a huge role Panu Autio, Miika Hosio and with the Kytölä brothers Juka and Mikola.
At the beginning of its history, the Finnish national futsal team had some familiar names from the national football team, but at the latest Martic stopped talking about “indoor football”.
The national futsal team traveled to training camps at the players’ own expense, when no money could be found from the Football Association. It was about a crazy passionate group that could have drawn patterns in videoconferences for a week without sleeping.
Finland caught on to the global development of the sport. Martic renewed the coaching training, and the level of the domestic Futsal League also rose.
If someone thinks of futsal with Brazilian skill, scissor kicks and deflections, it was pointless to dream about such things.
Finland did not compete with individual skill, but with its shitty style. The furious press and merciless inoculation for mistakes froze even the most skilled world stars.
Martic taught the Finns Balkan skills. Like how to get free kicks even with questionable means. Skills that are difficult to understand as an essential part of the ethos of ball sports in Finland.
And this is how Finland cleared its way to the World Cup further qualification already in 2020. Back then, Serbia was the favorite and barely better in the further qualification.
Read more: The captain of the Finnish national futsal team was completely broken – “This kind of opportunity will definitely not come in my career”
After that, Finland progressed to the European Championships and in them they dazzled until the quarter-finals.
When the Finnish national team was named for the European Championships, only Jani Korpela played elsewhere than in the domestic league. Of course, more had played there in their careers.
Now, five of the group that played in the World Cup play-offs are chilling on foreign fields, and in addition, there are several names in the team that have played abroad, such as in the Polish league, very recently.
In recent years, the national futsal team has played tough training tournaments, for example in Thailand. No more travel money has been dug out of players’ pockets.
Finland’s World Cup venue would have been a logical step.
A cheeky gift
Martic left Finland after the European Championships and an Italian was named in his place Sergio Gargelli in March 2022.
Playing Finland in the World Cup qualifying group was tough. There was no information about the competitive advantages with which Finland previously played the early favorites to the brink of fury.
In the qualifying group against Portugal, Georgia and Armenia, Finland only beat Armenia once. Against Portugal, Finland was a complete opponent, unlike in previous years.
But Finland’s four points collected by playing turned into 12 points in the cabinets.
The absurdity of the situation was best described by the futsal boss of Pallloiito Jyrki Filpun performing at ‘s studio during the break of the Georgia match.
Filppu said that no matter how the match goes, he has a protest already written.
Read more: Comment: Finland’s World Cup qualification turned out to be a sad mess – futsal’s success boom is now a distant memory
In December, before the last matches of the qualifying group, there was still quite a commotion from within the Finnish national team, when Gargelli left the team representing the big club Inter Movistar Jani Korpelan as well as kicking Hosio out of the team.
No one explained the matter, except Gargelli stated that they “did not commit to the values and principles of the team”.
Read more: Star players out of the national team – Finnish futsal legend in wonder: “It’s special that guys are thrown under the bus”
Not everything is fine in the national team, but it was easy to hide the problems when there was a World Cup qualifying round ahead.
The real Christmas took place in the draw for the next qualifying round, when Finland got the Netherlands and not Poland or especially Croatia.
Still, Finland was unable to beat the Netherlands in either match, as a continuation of the minor-winning qualifying group, even though it was the pre-favorite. Familiar problems and error sensitivity continued.
When you only play for the result, Gargell’s screens in Finland are at zero level, even though Finland was close to making history – and it says everything, how a race place was offered in a big gift package.
The World Cup qualification ended in a memorable thriller, but otherwise the qualification offered only questions.
Before the EC qualification starts at the end of the year, answers to the questions should be found: Can Finland return to its former level and how? How to fix the problems? Is Sergio Gargelli the right man for the next project?