Huttunen, Laukkanen, Niemi, Jääskeläinen, Hradecky. Finland has relied on top goalkeepers in football over the years, and the streak is still not about to be broken.
For example, the goalkeeper situation of the Finnish under-21 boys’ national football team Pikkuhuuhkajie is currently excellent.
In June’s national matches, Finland played against Slovenia and Poland. Greuther Fürth, representing Germany, alternated in goal Lasse SchulzTurku FC Inter Eetu Huuhtanen and IFK Mariehamn Elmo Henriksson.
– Then we were missing, for example, the one on the books of English Chelsea Lucas Bergström, who is injured. We have 8-9 goalkeepers in that age group, any of whom can put a goal in their mouth pretty much without grief – no matter what the match is, says Eemeli Reponen.
– We are on the verge of a positive problem. Turkey has many quality goalkeepers who have many good successes in national matches.
Reponen is an expert in Pallloliitto’s goalkeeper coaching and the goalkeeper coach of the under-21 team.
– If you take the critical tone as a balance, we don’t always have such a good situation. A few age groups after the current one are not necessarily so wide in terms of material. There are individual good goalkeepers, but the mass is not terribly large.
Reponen believes that there have always been top scorers in Finnish football, because defending has been more important than attacking for the teams of a small nation.
– I guess it has somehow come from our sports culture, including hockey and other sports, that we have been able to value the position of goalkeeper. In addition, we are quite a tall nation, and tall players are always popular among goalkeepers.
Not even Repose can find an unequivocal answer to why Finland has become a world-class cashier for decades. However, his goal is to ensure that they will continue to be found.
Things are done correctly, but there is also room for criticism
Reponen believes that the coaching of goalkeepers in Finland is a step or two ahead of other European countries.
– When you compare our goalkeepers to other European countries, we are currently much better at opening the game than others in all possible age groups.
Repose’s claim is harsh, but he justifies it with differences in coaching.
Reponen estimates that goalkeepers focus strongly on defending the goal at the middle and top level of Europe. He says that when it comes to defending the goal, Finland may be a step behind the top countries.
– Of course, that’s the number one thing. You don’t want to concede goals, but there are other aspects to playing as a goalkeeper.
According to Repose, the guidelines for Finnish goalkeeper training have also been taken into account by the European football association UEFA and the international football association Fifa. There has been a discussion about how to bring an advantage to attacking in Finland through goalkeeper play.
Reponen still admits that children and young people are an area that has been neglected quite a lot in Finland. In other countries, coaching designed especially for goalkeepers starts 3–4 years earlier.
– We have to catch a lot of other countries when our goalkeepers are 11–14 years old.
Young people are still turning out to be the world’s top carpenters. According to Repose, every year approximately one to three young goalkeepers have potential for international level.
– The number can very quickly double if we can train children and young people earlier, also in terms of goalkeeper training.
More playing time for young people
At halftime of the men’s national team’s match against Slovenia in June Jussi Jääskeläinen boasted on ‘s broadcast that there is expertise in coaching goalkeepers in Finland. At the same time, he hoped that more young Finnish goalkeepers would be seen as top defenders in the domestic main league.
– I played four seasons as the first goalkeeper in the Veikkausliiga before going abroad. I got the game experience that, for example, goalkeepers who play in England don’t get, Jääskeläinen said.
Reponen says that a great trend can now be seen in Finland, when major league teams have dared to put young goalkeepers in front of the goal earlier.
– In the national league, this has already happened before and it shows that we have received a small development spurt from it. But now responsibility is also given in the Veikkausliiga, Reponen states.
He recently signed a contract with the Italian AS Roma, the national team’s long-time number one goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela won the Finnish championship with Espoo FC Honga at the age of 20.
Won the Swedish Cup with Hammarby Anna Tamminen played in the main league at the age of 21 in NiceFutis from Pori. The one with IK Uppsala in the relegation battle of the Swedish premier league Milla-Maj Majasaari was the number one goalkeeper in the same Pori club already at the age of 15.
“It looked like Xavi or Iniesta would be on target”
In the current season, Elmo Henriksson, 20, has become IFK Marieham’s number one goalkeeper. Otto Hautamo with. Valkeakoski has played with Haka’s goal Good morning Hakala22.
In Turku FC Inter, Eetu Huuhtanen, 20, stands in goal, and the 18-year-old has been seen in FC Lahti’s starting line-up Anton Munukka that only 16 years old Osku Maukonen.
– I have to take my hat off to the (Lahti) head coach Mikko to Mannila and goalkeeper coach To Oliver Pannell. A lot of credit is given to young goalkeepers, Reponen praises.
Maukones became the Veikkausliiga’s youngest ever goalkeeper this season (at the age of 16 years, three months and 19 days) when he started in FC Lahti’s starting line-up directly from their elementary school graduates.
See the regional coach for the boys of the Western region of the Football Association Teemu Eskola tweet below or from this link.
The opening of the game just mentioned earlier is getting praise from Repose for Maukonen. He saw this for the first time when he was 13 years old in an observation tournament among players a year older, making a save in a big goal like a small glue stick.
– People came to tug me by the sleeve saying “go see that guy, it’s going to be really hard”. His ways of defending his goal and reacting defenses showed that now the goal is defended with all his soul.
– Another feat he had was that he looked like he was a goalkeeper Xavi or (Andres) Iniesta playing. That playing was something I hadn’t seen myself before in goalkeepers two or three years older than him, Reponen laughs.