Finland–Scotland on Tuesday 3.12. at 7:15 p.m. The broadcast on ‘s channels starts at 18:50.
Just under four years ago, the Finnish women’s national football team secured their place in the EC final tournament in an empty stadium. Due to the corona restrictions, spectators were not allowed in the Töölö football stadium, but the silence of the stands did not slow down the Helmarei. The team overthrew Portugal by Linda Sällström by hitting extra time.
On Tuesday, the team will play again for the EC place. Now it’s Scotland, and the plot of the couplet is clear: only the winner advances to the Games. This time, Finland will also get additional support from the stands for the game, as more than 6,800 tickets have been sold for the match. Reaching the record number of Helmares would require the sale of 800 tickets on Tuesday.
– The crowd brings that extra touch to the match and I really hope that as many as possible will find it in the stands tomorrow, Sällström, the Helmareit’s all-time best scorer, said after Monday’s practice.
– If someone thinks that it’s cold, if you want to go there, then come! I promise that no one will regret the moment we take that race place, and that I came to the place to prove it.
The head coach Marko Saloranta in ball sports, the audience is a big part of the game. He believes those who are there will witness something historic tonight.
– These do not happen often. These are individual opportunities for each player and coach. You never know if you’ll be in the same place again sometime. That must be respected, and we will try to make the most of it, Saloranta said.
An important result for many
Finnish women have played in the EC final tournament four times before. Urheilu’s expert who visited the sports screen Essi Sainio admits that it will be a huge disappointment if there is no competition place this time. According to him, the competition venue means a lot to both the players and their supporters.
– This is the kind of team that shows that Finnish women’s soccer or ball in general deserves its place in our society.
The result of tonight’s match is also important for the Finnish Football Association. The results of the men’s national team have been weak recently, so the success of the women’s and youth teams has been welcome.
The General Secretary of the Swedish Football Association Marco Casagrande according to the association, both men’s and women’s national teams have invested significantly. A place in the final tournament would help financially, as the European football association Uefa pays a participation bonus.
– The men’s final tournament place has so far been completely superior, but there will be growth on the women’s side as well. It still helps with preparation, Casagrande said.
In the previous European Championships, the participation bonus given by Uefa was 600,000 euros for Helmarii. The amount for next summer’s games in Switzerland will probably be decided in December at the UEFA board meeting, but Casagrande believes the pot will rise.
– (International Football Association) However, Fifa increased its own amounts significantly, so I’m pretty sure that Uefa will do the same.
From plans B and C to the “now looks good” phase
The European Championship play-off match against Scotland is the biggest game in the head coaching career of Marko Saloranta, who has coached the Helmarei for almost two years. The Finnish pilot has butterflies in his stomach in every match, but lately his night’s sleep has been in question. The team has had enough adversities and in the first part of the game there were, among other things, sick people out of the lineup Katariina Kosola and having filled up the card account Eva Nyström.
– We have had a lot of injuries this year. Every morning, I waited with a little dread when my doctor and physical therapist gave me the report on the players. We should have had plan B and plan C, but now it looks good, Saloranta sighed.
In the first leg, played in Edinburgh, both teams started by playing defensively and the match ended in a goalless draw. Essi Sainio thinks this is an excellent starting point for the second leg.
– Helmarit has been strong on the home field, while there have been difficulties on the away field. Now the 0-0 result was drilled from there.
However, the passivity of the home team in the match surprised many, especially the Finnish coaching team. However, according to Saloranta, Scotland has a world-class Midfield and forwards, but the game was quite one-sided. On the other hand, Finland’s active defensive game was successful in the first match.
We will hardly see anything similar in Helsinki, because at least one goal is needed in this game. However, Saloranta does not believe that Scotland will drastically change its game.
– They hardly want to take terrible risks when they know what kind of home team we are and how we performed in the first game. They certainly don’t want to let us into the center and know what kind of threat we pose to their rear.
The Scotland captain knows what’s coming
Sällström expects Scotland to come into the match with a more aggressive press. In his opinion, that could be useful, as it would open up places and facilities for Finland behind the press. However, Helmarit hasn’t been dusting the goal nets lately, and Sällström knows that in a match you have to score a goal one way or another.
– We’ve made a little mistake in how we get into scoring situations and get more chances to score. We have reached the breakout zone quite well, but then the poor pass has been left a bit exhausted. Hopefully now we will create a lot of chances and also score goals from them, Sällström said and believed that he would seek inspiration from his goal in the match against Portugal.
Scotland captain Caroline Weir like Saloranta and Sällström, expect the second leg to be similar to the first, although both have to attack more.
– Every time we play against Finland, we know what to expect. Finns are very disciplined and good at what they do. They are physically and tactically good, so they make the game difficult for the opponents, the Real Madrid midfielder stated.
The previous match at Easter Road was played on natural grass, but in Helsinki the surface is artificial. Weir assured that this change will not affect the Scotland squad in any way.
– It is quite common in Scandinavia and Finland to play on artificial grass. We knew that the platform is like this, it’s the same for both and we’ve practiced with it, so it doesn’t have an effect.