Helmarit gets to know his EC qualifying opponent a month before the first match – the head coach in a huff: “Unfathomable” | Sport

The European football association Uefa gathered for its annual congress on Thursday of last week. In Paris, in connection with the congress, the men’s League of Nations groups were also drawn.

Huhkaj was not really favored by the lottery, because Finland got England, Ireland and Greece in its group. The League of Nations will continue next fall after the summer European Championships.

At the same time, Helmarit has to wait another three weeks before the team finds out which countries it will face in the EC qualifiers. The draw will take place on March 5, with the first day of play on April 3 – almost exactly a month later.

The women’s national teams therefore have four weeks to prepare for the important EC qualifying matches.

The head coach of the helmets Marko Saloranta didn’t mince his words when commenting on the situation.

– Absolutely incomprehensible. There are four weeks from the draw to the first qualifying match, which challenges everything from match arrangements to travel arrangements. Pity our team leader Outi Saari, when we start to take an orchestra like this somewhere in Europe, when we don’t know when we will play away, when abroad. You can’t do anything in advance, everything suddenly comes crashing down, Saloranta begins.

The situation is also challenging for the coaching team.

– Scouts Jonne Kunnasen the management are quite tough, because we haven’t been able to prepare at all, what that team is.

Kunnas recently moved to the Swedish club Linköping’s coaching team. Sweden’s Damallsvenskan kicks off right after the national team window on April 13, but even before then the teams play Cup matches.

In addition to the municipality, the scout team includes Ari Kervinen and for this season moved to the head coach of Åland United Riku Remes. The national league starts on April 12.

Finland will gather in Spain next week for the Pinatar Cup and will play at least matches against Slovenia and the Philippines. In the final of the tournament, it will possibly face Scotland. Already earlier, head coach Saloranta opened up to about how difficult it was to find opponents for the national matches in February.

Read also: The Helmarei were supposed to face opponents from the top of the world, but it turned out differently – the head coach was amazed: “It’s like a circus”

The fact that the February games come before the March draw brings its own challenge.

– We cannot directly prepare for this specific game to serve against a specific opponent. We will try different things in playing, but at the same time we have to make a result.

According to Saloranta, the goal is also to test the players. There are no first-timers in the group named for the tournament, and many of the names are very familiar. There is not a single player from the domestic league, which is a new situation at least in the teams coached by Saloranta.

– There are quite a few players with less than 10 international matches. Last year too, we played quite extensively, but in the Nations League some have more minutes. We want to try certain pairs and areas.

No reasons from UEFA

Some of the women’s national teams will still play in the Nations League in February for the Olympic place and promotion and relegation to the A, B, C leagues of the Nations League.

The women’s EC qualifiers are played using the same system as the League of Nations, so it is not clear for all countries which group they will be drawn into.

On the other hand, for example, the groups of the men’s European Championships are also clear, although not all the countries playing in the games are. The EC competition groups were drawn in December.

According to head coach Saloranta, Uefa has not given the reason why the women’s EC qualifying groups are only drawn

– There has been no explanation as to why the draw is so late. I understand that it is not yet known who will play in the A and B league, because the qualifiers are still being played, but it has been drawn so that the winner of the pair of matches is placed in a certain group. Maybe that’s the reason. But it’s challenging. My opinion is that opponents should be informed earlier.

Also, the venue for Helmareite’s possible home match in April is not yet known. In autumn, the women’s national team played two matches in Turku and one in Helsinki at the Töölö football stadium.

The completed Tammela stadium in Tampere has also been hinted at as one of the game venues. Helmarit last played in Tampere in the summer of 2023, when they faced Scotland in July.

– The venue is still being mapped, there is no definite information yet, Saloranta decided.

Finland will face the Philippines on February 21 and Slovenia on February 24 in Spain. The Pinatar Cup final will be played on Tuesday, February 27. Areena shows Finland’s matches live.