The Finnish women’s national futsal team is aiming for its first place in history in the EC final tournament. You can watch the EC qualifying matches at Areena.
The Finnish women’s futsal team will start its European Championship qualifying match on Wednesday in Vantaa. The pace of the qualifying tournament is tight, as Finland plays three matches within four days.
Finland gets to the qualifiers with a nice streak of five unbeaten matches, but the group is challenging. In addition to Sweden and Belgium, Finland will face European champion Spain.
– Practically every basket became the most challenging possible team. Spain can practically be considered the number one team in the world, their activities have been regular for a long time. The team has won two European championships, the Finnish head coach Jaakko Laitinen commented to Urheilu.
Spain has not yet been able to win more championships, as futsal women have only played twice for the European championship: this summer and in 2019.
The story of the Finnish women’s futsal team is also relatively short, as its operations officially started in 2017.
Captain Elina Setälä has been with the team since the beginning. The first national team camp, however, was missed, as only six weeks had passed since the birth.
– If you think back six years ago, women’s futsal has progressed wildly. The players are physically in better shape, the game is really much more tactical, braver and faster, Setälä lists.
The other countries in the group, i.e. Belgium and Sweden, Finland have been defeated within a year. Sweden even twice with a score of 4–1.
– Sweden works long-term and has always strived to move forward. The team is one of the highest quality that can come from a triple basket. Belgium is a surprising team that is brave in its own game, Laitinen describes.
The head coach hopes to expand the games
Last fall, Ukraine in Lviv, Finland was close to its first European Championship place in history, but lost the decisive match to Ukraine 1–4. Now Laitinen hopes that Finland could benefit from the home advantage.
However, the challenge is great, because only the winner of the group advances from the qualifying tournament to the final tournament. Four countries will play in the final tournament to be played in March 2023.
– We are the second-ranked team in the group, clearly among the top eight in Europe. We hope that in the future the games will be expanded a bit, so that we can get a little more countries to the final tournaments. It would be good for the sport, Laitinen formulates.
Read also: In futsal played by tens of millions, a contradiction that raises questions – why is there no World Cup tournament for women at all?
Preparation for the Games started already in the spring, and the team gathered for the finishing camp for the EC qualifiers on Friday. Despite the challenging starting points, the captain and head coach promise that the team will give their all to the home crowd on the field.
– I believe in us one hundred percent. We are close to the top of Europe, I strongly classify us in the top eight. This year I think we can drill our way into the top four. We make our own down, we make it very high quality. We succeed in what we want to succeed in. We will win three matches and get to the games, captain Setälä says.
There is a lot of experience among the team’s 14 field players and three goalkeepers. Laitinen describes his team as having a tough level.
– We have many different types of players with long futsal experience. The team is physically in good shape. We have no restrictions on tactics, Laitinen describes.
However, there are also players who have not yet been seen many times in the national team shirt.
– For example Sandra Lind and Anni-Elina Luotonen have come along. As futsal players, they have done a good job for a long time. Even the new players have a lot of league experience.
The women’s national futsal team will only be able to play in front of the home crowd for the third time.
– Now that’s the best! I hope we have a lot of encouragement and voice, that’s what we’re also looking for more guts on the field, Setälä concludes.
Finland will meet Sweden in the EC qualifiers today, 19 October. from 19:00. In addition, Finland faces 20.10. at 19.00 Belgian and 22.10. at 17:00 Spanish. The matches are shown in Areena.
Read also:
In futsal played by tens of millions, a contradiction that raises questions – why is there no World Cup tournament organized for women at all?
The European Championship dreams of the Finnish women’s futsal team shattered