The Finnish team failed miserably in preparing for the World Cup final. Lasse Kurrone’s long era still moved Finnish floorball forward, writes Urheilu’s Henri Pitkänen.
Henri Pitkänen sports reporter
SINGAPORE. In a tropical climate, snowballs melt quickly, but one of them started spinning in the wrong direction for the women’s national floorball team right in the opening minute of the World Cup final.
My Kippilän Sweden’s opening goal after only 31 seconds, caused by a stray pass, hinted that everything is not necessarily in order, but the extent of the destruction in the opening set surprised everyone. The reigning champion, who started strongly, was hungry, blunt and efficient, putting the ball in the net from almost every position.
Finland’s full-body cast, which arrived at the rink in socks, was not managed to open it any better by the coaching than the leading players. The snowball rolled too far for Finland, even though the next two sets evened out punts in light of the numbers.
The preparation failed miserably, and the team will ponder the reasons for it for a long time to come.
In a draw, Finland lost the game 1–6, and the match showed again how little importance should be given to the EFT tournaments before the World Cup. When all the marbles are placed in the middle and the only relevant point is played, Sweden has been the best for 18 years and nine times in a row. You have to give it a lot of credit.
The Finnish tournament left a mixed feeling. The first two sets against Switzerland were the best floorball in blue and white that I have seen in years, at least myself. The first real pressure game in the semi-final against the Czech Republic was also clearly taken care of at home, especially thanks to the effective first five.
The dead-end opening set of the final dropped the overall rating significantly. Even though for another two years, more persons responsible had been searched for Veera and Oona Kaupin behind, however, they were not found in the decisive matches of the weekend.
The only goal was World Championship gold, and it still didn’t come true.
The eight-year period ends
Next, the new head coach will start looking for and growing a wider pool of solvers, because Lasse Kurronen a long eight-year streak ended on Sunday night in Singapore. Lappeenranta’s prize cabinet was not decorated with a gold medal, but when you look behind the results, the women’s national team has taken steps forward under Kurrone.
The most important thing is that the level of requirements has increased, and the importance of commitment to national team activities has increased. The competition for playing spots has increased especially in the last four years, and there is a really good team spirit in the team.
Seen you in Singapore Miisa Turunen, Ulla Valtola, Alma Laitila and Emilia Pietilän of young debutants like Ensiaskaleet on the MM mats. Everyone left a positive image of themselves, but a lot of years and experience are still needed to decide the final games.
I already wrote about the success of the tournament before, and there is no need to add anything to it. The audience for the final was announced as almost 4,000, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere near that many people.
In the middle of the tournament, ticket prices were dropped to half of the original price, and according to a hall rumor, tickets were eventually distributed for free near the hall.
In the end, the tournament offered almost nothing new under the palm trees. Sweden is the best in the world, Finland is clearly the second best, the Kaupits are incredibly good players and it is not worth bringing the floorball world championships to Asia.