The Finnish women’s national team’s place in the European Championship was secured above all because of a start that boasted self-confidence. The Pikkuhuuhkajat also threaten the same, writes Urheilu’s Samu Saatsi.
Samu Saatsi sports reporter
– I could already see from this group before the game that we will take care of this. Of those (Scotland) I could see that they were scared, their teeth were really chattering. We’re just a little cold now.
Captain Tinja-Riikka Korpelan painting on the artificial turf of the Töölö football stadium after the Scotland match photographed a lot.
After two determined performances, Helmarit marched to next summer’s European Championships in Switzerland. Scotland was held to zero on its home ground and the same in Helsinki.
For the first ten minutes, Finland pounded its opponent on the cold artificial turf. Helmarit came to the must-win game with his claws out and in the end earned his place in the competition in a very clear way.
Natalia Kuikka and Nea Lehtola were real leaders on the field, whom the Finnish football people were happy to watch.
Above all, Helmarien’s entire performance, but especially its first half, was characterized by high self-confidence. The performances in the game laid the groundwork for Korpela to be able to express himself at the press conference after the game.
Kuikka, who bombed a fantastic long shot goal, threw more into the mill after the game.
– I felt like shooting a little, Kemiläinen said in an interview about his goal.
Of course, self-confidence was visible even before the game. Finnish players spoke straightforwardly in interviews: “when we go to the Games”.
The final result is on the board and the tickets to Switzerland are in your pocket.
The Finnish under-21 men’s national team, which last month looked exactly the same as the women’s, has already had their tickets stamped.
Exuding confidence Mika Lehkosuo the national team defeated Norway in the pressure point of the European Championship play-off in its two games. The players boasted the same confidence in their work and in each other that Helmarit served at his best in Töölö.
The only thing that currently lacks self-confidence in the Finnish football family is one of the men’s national teams. The broken self-confidence of Huahkaji has been exposed many times.
Pressure games have turned out to be terrible places, as examples of recent years’ away games in Slovenia and Wales. Even in pressure-free home games, the backbone has been broken as if by pressing a button, like against Greece Markku Kanerva in the last Huuhkajat game of the head coach’s career.
If there’s one thing Huuhkajat is praying for, it’s that with the new head coach, self-confidence would be found somewhere.
But that about losing national teams.
Helmarie’s head coach Marko Saloranta instead deserves a lot of praise. Saloranta has shown a good reason why Palloliitto made the right decision regarding his extension. The game in Finland has developed, the spirit in the team is strong and there is a good competition for places.
There is still plenty to polish before next summer’s games. In the fight against Scotland at home, the away team dominated the game to a large extent, even though Finland survived relatively easily. Game performance “wasn’t very pretty”, like Linda Sällström shaped.
However, the final result determined this pair of matches. Also, a brave team often earns luck in football. That was also on the Helmarien side on Tuesday.
The Finnish soccer team was also on the Finnish side. More than 7,000 pairs of eyes in the stands who braved the freezing cold created an excellent atmosphere and were rewarded with a celebration at the race venue. That’s a very respectable amount.
Finnish soccer fans will now have a double summer. Booking race tickets to Switzerland (women’s EC) and Slovakia (under-21 EC) is certainly a pretty nice balm on the wounds left by the men’s national team’s game performances.