Goodbye, freezing crushers! The League of Nations is a long-awaited reform, from which Helmarit feels he will benefit tremendously

381 days.

That’s how long it has been since Helmareit’s last competitive match, when the game kicks off next Friday in Turku.

The match against Slovakia is historic, because this fall the women will also play in the Nations League, which is familiar to the men, for the first time.

Finland plays at the second highest level in the B-league, where it faces Romania and Croatia in addition to Slovakia.

The change is expected, because on the women’s side, the EC qualifiers will also be played with a game system similar to the League of Nations. It means that the senseless thrashings seen in the last qualifiers, even those that ended 20-0, will remain in history.

From the EC qualifiers, the eight best teams in the A-League advance directly to the EC final tournament, and the remaining eight places are distributed in further qualifiers. For the remaining places, the A-League’s group threes and fours, C-League’s group winners and the three best-placed group runners-up and B-League’s group winners, group runners-up and group threes will fight for the remaining places.

Confused? Perhaps.

Useful? At least for mediocre and better countries. In the case of smaller countries, concern has arisen whether the C-League’s underdogs will be left behind for good, although it is unlikely that Georgia will miss playing in the same group as Sweden. When Sweden claimed a 15-0 victory from the away field from the throwing bag of the group.

So the viewer might thank you too!

For Finland, the break from competitive games came at a good time: the EC disappointment was followed by a change of coach, when the previous head coach Anna Signeul was allowed to leave last summer accompanied by a commotion. Marko Saloranta has been allowed to introduce his changes in peace.

The Helmaris enter the Nations League with very good positions, and not only in light of the results. Finland has lost only one of the matches played during the year: in July, Scotland, hurt by the EC qualifying losses, claimed a 2–1 victory in Tampere.

On the way, all opponents of the League of Nations have fallen: Slovakia twice, first 1–0 and then 2–0, Romania 4–0 and Croatia 4–1.

Of course, the opponents have also been weaker than, for example, when preparing for the last European Championship, but for example, beating Iceland can be considered a good performance.

According to all sense, Helmarit will be promoted to the A-League at the end of the autumn games and will be able to start the EC qualifiers thanks to the self-esteem boost brought by six victories.

That is also the team’s goal.

– Rive talked about a spare cartridge for the men’s League of Nations, but for us it is even more. That (getting up to the A-league) gives a clear advantage in the qualification as well, Saloranta reflected today, Wednesday, in connection with the team announcement.

Many of the players have been successful not only in the national team jersey, but also at the club team level.

Eva Nyström joined the team already during Signeul, but is Anna Westerlund after quitting took his place in the team in style. Nyström is the trusted defender of Hammarby, who are defying Häcken in the Damallsvenskan championship.

Katariina Kosola his excellent moves also impressed Swedish club Häcken, who bought the 22-year-old midfielder from Örebro and signed him to a three-year contract.

Olga Ahtinen remained in an amazingly small role during Signeul, but Saloranta has trusted Ahtien. The injury overshadowed the early season, but last season’s Damallsvenskan winner Ahtinen moved to the Superliga in Tottenham’s ranks in August.

The national team’s all-time top scorer Linda Sällström is currently completing his medical training, but is on the team. However, scoring is no longer solely on the shoulders of the striker. Like Sällström, this year Nälvasti has been successful in the national team shirt Jutta Rantala, who watched Hungary’s goal celebration, which ended in an 8–0 victory, from the bench. Rantala’s excerpts have also been noticed elsewhere. In the summer, he got a transfer to the tough English Super League, Leicester.

– Jutta will certainly be a really important player for us now and in the future, Saloranta said in the team announcement.

Transferred to AS Roma Tinja-Riikka Korpela has worn the mantle of first keeper for a long time, but Nyström’s club teammate Anna Tamminen has been among the best goalkeepers in Damallsvenskan. Tamminen, who was sidelined for the July matches due to injury, is back in action, and last weekend he was chosen as the best player of the victorious local match.

Saloranta also praised Tammi as the best goalkeeper in Damallsvenskan during the team announcement.

Last year, many players had a short vacation when the European Championships filled the summer. This summer, at the July camp, many of the Helmaris thanked how good a proper vacation felt after a long time.

The situation is not the same for everyone. For example, England opens the Nations League just over a month after the World Cup final match. Many of the players from the teams that played in both the European Championships and the World Championships are also key players in their club teams, to which many returned shortly after the Games. Although league games in England only start at the beginning of October, many top European players have had a long time since their last proper break.

Too many pay a high price: top players already from the World Cup was on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

I hope the trend doesn’t continue this fall.

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