The Finnish women’s national football team beat Romania 6–0 in the Nations League. Anni Hartikainen said that she was inspired by Alejandro Garnacho’s wonderful goal last weekend.
Riku Porvari,
Jussi Vainikka
Helmarit will face Slovakia in the Nations League on Tuesday, December 5, in its last match of the year. will show the match live on TV2 and Areena from 19:45.
The Finnish women’s national football team Helmarit beat Romania in show style with 6-0 goals on Thursday in the Nations League.
Two goals were scored by a striker Linda Sällströmonce they hit Ria Öling, Emma Koivisto, I am Sevenius and Anni Hartikainen. For Sevenius and Hartikainen, the goals were the first in their A national team career.
– (Feels) wonderful, great. This has been expected. It finally came, Sevenius described after the match.
– Same to you. Oona and I have talked at every national team camp about when our first goals will come. Now they came at the same time. You can’t be more than happy, Hartikainen says.
Just a moment after completing the 6–0 goal, Anni Hartikainen tried to score one of the most amazing goals this year. He looked for a hit as if with a side scissor kick. Unfortunately, the ball went over and past the goal.
– Last Sunday was ManU’s game, where (Alejandro) Garnacho probably scored the best goal this season. ManU is my favorite team, so I had to try the same, Hartikainen grumbled.
Manchester United’s 19-year-old winger Alejandro Garnacho completed a stunning scissor-kick goal against Everton in the English Premier League on Sunday 26 November.
The group win secured promotion to the A-League
With the victory in Romania, Finland secured the victory in its group of the Nations League. It means that the team got a place in the European Championship play-off and will move up to the tougher A-League.
Looking ahead, the B-league was too easy for Finland. However, the team has handled their match wonderfully. The scoring has been a little lame at times, but Finland had no problems on the defensive end.
Finland has won all five matches with a combined score of 16–0. The team has not conceded a goal before this season’s Nations League and its last match of the year, where Finland meets Slovakia.
Linda Sällström, who scored two goals against Romania, said that she was nervous about scoring at the beginning of the Romania match. In the away match, Finland beat Romania 1–0, when Eveliina Summanen hit from the penalty kick.
– I already had time to think – when there were a few places at the beginning, and I didn’t go in – whether this will be the same game as the previous one (Romania match). Yes, they sank there then. 6–0, a clear victory as it should be. We belong there in the A-league, Sällström said after the match.
The Women’s League will be played for the first time in autumn 2023.
The teams are divided into three leagues based on the UEFA ranking. 16 teams play in the A and B leagues, which are divided into groups of four teams. There are 19 teams in the C-League.
Finland plays in the B-league with Romania, Croatia and Slovakia.
The A-League group winners and group runners-up remain in the highest league. In the B and C leagues, the group winners move up to the higher league. The group winners in the A and B leagues are relegated to the lower league. The worst-placed B-League group three will also be relegated to the C-League.
In the group qualifiers of the Nations League, the group threes of the A league play against the group threes of the B league. The winners continue in the A-league and the losers in the B-league.
The group winners of the A-League play in the final tournament of the Nations League for a place in the Paris Olympics. The finalist teams qualify for the Olympics together with the tournament organizer France (or the third-placed team, if France plays in the finals).
Helmarit will face Slovakia in the Nations League on Tuesday, December 5, in its last match of the year. will show the match live on TV2 and Areena from 19:45.