“Mörkö” did it again! The Lions rose from bad to victory and advanced to the World Cup semi-finals

When the most important matches are played, Marko Anttila often comes up. This time too, when the Finnish men’s hockey team defeated Slovakia 4–2 in the semi-finals of the World Championships.

Finland advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup at the World Cup, where the United States will face off.

Nervous Finland let Slovakia score two goals in the opening round, after which Anttila scored twice. Leaving Lempäälä, more familiarly, “Mörkö” controlled the Lions’ reduction first at the end of the opening round, and later leveled the game in the second round.

Anttila also had a place in the hat trick in the final moments, but he decided to give the last seal to the empty finish. To Saku Mäenalas.

– The cold shivering went on when the audience shouted at Mörkö in the hall. It’s that pretty gentleman that still serves feed. I have to offer it one back at some point, Mäenalanen said.

– Saku hits those empty goals better than I do if you watch the Czech game. Maybe it was better like that, Anttila repeated with a grin.

The winning goal of the match was the responsibility of the final round Sakari Manninenwhich lifted from the knuckle side to the top corner of the loose disc.

For Anttila, the hits were the first in the World Cup. The striker is known for his important goals, as he scored four goals in the World Cup gold spring 2019 playoffs. Those were his only goals in the tournament.

In Beijing, Anttila succeeded in the semi-finals, in addition to which he got an entry point in the final Hannes Björnisen golden victory against Russia.

Slovakia poured cold water on the lions’ neck in 8.17 when Mario Lunterin the shot bounced Mikael Granlundin through Adam Sykoralle. The 17-year-old four-chain pier pounded the puck from the air into the net and aired his hit.

Slovakia later had a counterattack. Samuel Takac shot towards the goal, and Pavol Rengenda certainly lifted the puck to the top corner.

– Slovakia made it difficult for us tonight. Slovakia was great today. Maybe we were a little nervous at first. The discs bounced and we didn’t help the guy enough, Anttila said.

The game of lions was marked by nervousness in the opening round, and Finland had difficulty getting out of its territory with the help of supply chains. Slovakia, on the other hand, defended in a disciplined manner, and Finland’s top positions were few.

Anttila’s director Niklas Frimanin the feed, however, created faith in the Lion. At the beginning of the second set, Anttila flashed his wrist when the Lions were deported in the attack area. The wrist of the 203-centimeter struck the left corner.

Slovakia was not surprised to hit. It was able to create individual top spots for Finland’s goal. The closest was Regenda, whose control was narrowly past the goal.

Even after Manninen’s victory goal, Slovakia lost its life, and Finland got on the defensive. Familiar with TPS Juraj Slafkovskyn the company even went to the pole, but the Lions survived the final moments without a setback.

The Finnish tournament will continue on Saturday, when the United States will meet in the semi-finals at 2:20 p.m.

– There’s definitely a physical twist ahead. They play the same style of hockey as Slovakia, meaning they are active and skating. We need to be better prepared for that, Anttila said.

– I think this victory will relax us. A semi-final is always a match with nervousness. I think we’ll be able to play more casually on Saturday.