The opening game of the Finnish Nations League against Greece ended in a stomach flurry. Urheilu’s football experts pondered the reasons for the weak performance in the second period.
Samu Saatsi,
Riku Salminen
The Finnish men’s national football team’s season in the Nations League started with a loss. Finland bowed to Greece in the opening game of its group with goals 0–3.
After a promising start, the Huhkajie’s first match under the renewed coaching leadership turned into a gut-wrenching affair. Captain Lukas Hradecky the opening goal from Munus plunged Finland into a weak performance, where there were few bright spots.
The way in which Finland’s show collapsed in the second episode turned out to be particularly harsh. Although Greece only scored once, they had chances to score several goals.
The head coach Markku Kanerva marched disappointed after the match to an interview with Urheilu.
Pretty brutal numbers on the board. How do you pull together the opening game of the Nations League?
– Well, which is brutal, 3–0 or 6–0, Kanerva began.
– Of course we are disappointed. The opponent was better and efficient in his finishing. We didn’t get the start to the match as we hoped. I read a mistake and we got into a chase position. We started to press quite actively and from high up, and Greece then got past the press with hard counterattacks, Kanerva reflected.
The house of cards spread
Urheilu’s football experts Miika Nuutinen and Markus Halsti pondered Finland’s stumbling blocks after the match. Especially the second episode was miserable for Huuhkaji.
– It’s a very good question, what the hell happened in the second episode. Coach Jani Honkavaara said that we want to see a brave and united Finland on the field. Yes, that unity was far away in the second half, Halsti summarized.
– Yes, the Huuhkajie house of cards spread in the second episode. The first episode showed what Finland wants to do. However, it did not last the full 90 minutes. Before the game, there were many questions that were answered, but at the same time, new questions arose in their place, Nuutinen accompanied.
At best, the structure of Huhkajie’s attacks looked good. The Finns were able to break through the Greek defense with passing chains. However, the end result was no goal chances.
Based on Uefa’s statistics, Finland controlled the ball 54 percent of the time. Greece took the goal posts 9–6, towards the goal 5–0.
– In the opening period, Finland used the short distances between the players to their advantage. In the second period, the distances grew badly. At the same time, passing opportunities disappeared and Greece was able to block with very little work, Nuutinen summed up.
Finland offered open doors
In defense, Finland suffered from its ambitious formation. When the Huhkaji defenders spread their attacks while building really close to the sidelines, it gave Greece a lot of space to counterattack.
This led, especially in the second period, to constant danger spots, as Greece was allowed to run with the ball in its counterattacks.
– Every time Greece was able to win the ball back in those situations, it was a dangerous and good counterattacking team. Is Finland’s defense at its best in situations where it has to defend a large space? It certainly isn’t. There were a lot of those situations in the second period, Nuutinen reflected.
Finland will next face England next Tuesday in London. So the cheerleaders have some time to gather their ranks before the next fight.