The Finnish men’s national football team played a 1–1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the League of Nations match at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
5.6. 08: 01 • Updated June 5. 08:53
So close but so far.
Disappointment shone from the faces of the Finnish men’s national team players to the media all the way to the back wall of the room.
– Bitter taste in the mouth. Feels almost like a loss. V * tutta, Captain of the Owls Lukas Hradecky summed up the atmosphere in the Owl Camp after the match.
Even a quarter of an hour earlier, everything had gone almost like a dream.
The weather was pampered for a long time without crown restrictions at the Olympic Stadium, which played in the summer months and especially the spectators. In Finland, watching a sporting event in a sweater is not clear at the beginning of the summer, but at least in the sun there was no need for a jacket.
The event market in front of the Olympic Stadium had already opened in the afternoon, and two hours before the opening kick it was completely flooded with people.
Children, young people, the elderly. Families, friends, junior teams.
Graduation Day, an unstable weather forecast and a distant-minded combination of the League of Nations were not the most attractive combination of all, but more than 20,000 spectators had bought a ticket to the stadium.
Some of the supporters had lined up in front of the stadium well in advance, and the reason was clear: the long-time captain of the national team Tim Sparv once again stepped in front of the home crowd half an hour before the opening kick.
Sparv announced the end of his gaming career at the end of December. His last international match was the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at the end of September. There, Sparv ran for extra time on the field Rasmus Schüllerin in place of.
Sparvia, who suffered injuries, was no longer invited to the World Cup qualifiers in October and November. Even in HJK, minutes had rarely been accumulated.
However, in half a year, the fans had not forgotten the captain who led the Owls to the European Green for the first time in history. A captain who led by example both on and off the field.
The captain held was applauded for standing around the stadium.
The evening would have been almost perfect if Finland had managed to maintain its 1–0 lead until the end. Teemu Pukki took the lead from the Finnish penalty kick at the end of the opening period and wildly dominated the home crowd.
Pukki would have done just over a year ago if there had been spectators in the World Cup qualifiers in the spring of 2021. In March last year, however, Pukki had to ventilate empty auditoriums as many as twice.
On Saturday, the joy lasted almost an hour. The post-match victory party was already tickling in my mind when Smail Prevljak leveled the game to 1-1 with extra time in the match. Finland’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the opening match of the League of Nations was about a minute and a half away.
The points were redistributed, just like in March 2021. In the 84th minute, Bosnia evened out a few minutes after Pukki’s 2-1 lead.
With the exception of a few Bosnian fan crews in Bosnia, the Olympic Stadium fell silent.
At the press conference, Captain Hradecky probably summed up the atmosphere of many Finnish spectators.
Nevertheless, when the final whistle echoed a few minutes later, the supporters in the North Guard remained to thank for a long time.
All in all, support is also promised the day after tomorrow, when the Owls host Montenegro in the League of Nations on a sunny Tuesday night. The captaincy was handed to Hradecky after Sparv.
Finland will play four matches in ten days.
– The faster you get to play these, the faster you get to a well-deserved vacation!
Pilke is back in the corner of her eye and a smile on her face.
(match start times during Finnish time)
The Finnish men’s national football team Huuhkajat will face Montenegro on Tuesday 7 June. The broadcast will be available on TV2 and Areena from 18.00. The match itself will start on ‘s channels at 7 p.m.