The Finnish men’s national football team, the Huuhkajat, will be fighting for a place in the summer European Championships in Germany in two weeks from now.
Finland will face Wales at the opening of the further qualifiers in Cardiff on March 21. The winner of the match will play against either Poland or Estonia for a place in the competition. Huahkajat gets a potential deciding game on their home field.
However, some dark clouds have come around Huhkaj recently. Leo Vaisänen has to miss further qualifying due to injury. Väisänen suffers from heel spurs.
Like Väisänen, who plays in the North American MLS series Robin Lod got hit in the calf. In the German Bundesliga with a flamethrower With Fredrik Jensen Achilles tendon trouble has occurred.
– Lod got a bruise on his calf and missed the previous game, but more as a precaution. Nothing more serious was found in the pictures. Let’s hope that he will play this weekend, Huuhkajie’s head coach Markku Kanerva found out on Saturday in the Sports Studio.
– Jensen already trained fully with the team on Wednesday. I believe both are in good condition.
Of course, many Huuhkajie players have been in top form. Lukas Hradecky is leading Leverkusen as captain to the German championship. Twisting in Venice Joel Pohjanpalo was chosen as the Italian Serie B player of the month. Also Glen Kamara has been on the attack in England’s second division at Leeds.
– The overall picture is good. For certain players, the low playing time is a little worrying, but at the moment it looks really good. Hopefully there won’t be any more injuries and the players will be successful. They would get in a good mood before the national team games, says Kanerva.
There are also a lot of players among Huuhkaj who haven’t been able to play much lately. In North America, the season has just started. The Nordic countries are just getting ready for the new season.
– This is not a new situation, but of course not ideal either. Some players have little game feel, but I’m used to that too. We have looked carefully at the players’ grips and we have seen what condition they are in, says Kanerva.
According to the Huuhkajie’s head coach, the Finnish coaching team also contacts the players’ club teams before the national team games.
– We do get information and find out about the players’ loads. We know the physical space, whether there are many games below or not, Kanerva reminds.
Wales 183 million euro quality team
Huuhkajie’s second half of last year in the European Championship qualifiers was a minor victory. In the important games of October, Finland lost first dully away to Slovenia and then at home also to Kazakhstan.
Kanerva says that he was disappointed that the goal of a direct competition place remained a dream. He still sees Huuhkaj’s chances for the Games. Kanerva considers Wales to be a quality team.
Wales has participated in three of the four previous prestigious competitions. In the 2016 European Championships, Wales even reached the semi-finals. Wales qualified for the 2018 World Cup, but the team participated in the 2021 European Championship and the 2022 World Championship.
– The value of the Welsh team is 183 million euros. They have six Premier League players and many players in England’s second division as well, Kanerva reminds.
They finished third in their European Championship qualifying group behind Turkey and Croatia.
– However, the level of Wales is shown by the fact that they beat Croatia at home and drew away. It’s a dangerous team, but yes Wales are beatable. When everything goes smoothly and the game plan works, Kanerva sums up.
A possible qualifying final against Poland or Estonia would be played in the same week at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on March 26.
– It would be amazing to play in the final. Without a doubt, it has been in mind. We have to be prepared, whether it’s Poland or Estonia. These teams are also scouted. We haven’t started to create too much atmosphere, but it would be quite a trick to win in front of the home crowd and get to the games. However, we believe in it and do everything for it, Kanerva describes.
Kanerva’s own head coach contract is also on hold at the end of this year. Kanerva plans to continue coaching.
– Now the full focus is on the upcoming games and the autumn Nations League matches. Of course, you have to think about different options, whatever comes up, Kanerva describes.
shows Huuhkajie’s further qualifying matches on its channels. Finland meets Wales on 21.3. at 9:45 p.m.