Last Saturday, Finland lost 2-5 away to Georgia and got revenge in the men’s futsal World Cup qualifiers. The same teams met on Wednesday evening in Turku.
Finland got off to a great start to the match, as Akaa representing Futsal in the domestic Futsal League Justus Kunnas was allowed to hit the ball into the net in the first minute. Maal, representing the Spanish league’s big club Inter Movistar, started the goal with his wonderful individual performance Jani Korpela.
Georgia countered in less than 20 seconds on a simple layup. Korpela was late in guarding players, and Bruno Gomes shot the ball into the net.
When the match had been played for a good six minutes, it was Finland’s triple court and especially its Kemilai duo. Vesa Lilja released himself on the sideline having pumped himself free Tuukka Pikkarainenwho floated the ball through the back post into the net.
Georgia quickly acknowledged again. The first half was approaching the halfway point when Georgia took advantage of the goalie to open the game Zviad Kupatadzea, which rose up to the draw. In the end, the 43-year-old goalkeeper poked his own loose ball into the net past the Finnish goalkeeper Antti Koivumäki.
– Courageously and nicely, the old man got up and played the second ball wonderfully, the expert said in the commentary room Panu Autio.
Kupatadze also scored on Saturday. However, at that time he shot the ball into an empty goal, when Finland was looking for narrow goals with a flying hammer.
The opening period ended 2–2. In a fast-paced first 20 minutes, Finland was able to open up Georgia’s press clearly better than in the away loss on Saturday. Of course, Georgia also had numerous top spots in addition to their goals. The scoring attempts were recorded for Georgia 16-10.
The second period continued with steady signs. The Finnish team got a job post while the one playing in the Polish league Sergei Korsunov broke his ankle in a head ball fight. Korsunov landed on his opponent’s leg while coming down.
Georgia took a 3–2 lead after half of the second period had been played. Chaguinha played a wall pass Elisandro with and placed the ball from Koivumäki’s armpit into the net.
Finland equalized by playing with a flying goalkeeper when there were 1:36 left in the match. Henri Alammikkotervo rode an unstoppable drive to the front corner with the “top cart”. Before that, Alamikkotervo already had time to shoot the post.
The last minute became quite a struggle, as both teams used a flying goalkeeper in turn and wanted to go for the winning goal. However, the match ended 3–3.
– We could have lost. I’m happy with the contribution we made to the game. In the opening period, we conceded goals too easily. In the second period, we knew they were tired because they played with six players. We wanted to create chaos and force them to make mistakes, said Finland’s Italian head coach Sergio Gargelli.
According to Gargell, Finland’s game is developing in the right direction, but there are still too many mistakes.
The protests continue and can push Finland further
There are five World Cup qualifying groups. The winners of the groups advance to the World Championships, which will be played next fall in Uzbekistan. The four best teams from the second group qualify for the next round.
The situation in Finland’s block is probably still alive because of the protests. Already earlier, the European football association Uefa accepted the Football Association’s protest about the Armenia match, so Finland’s 3–2 victory turned into a 5–0 victory.
According to Finland and Portugal, Armenia and Georgia have intimidated Brazilians who do not meet FIFA’s citizenship requirements.
Finland has also protested last Saturday’s away loss to Georgia. Portugal’s protest about the Georgia match was already accepted, and Georgia played the same Brazilian players against Finland, so Finland’s protest is expected to go through.
On top of all that, despite previous protests, Georgia played the same Brazilian reinforcements against Finland as well. Futsal manager of the Finnish Ball Association Jyrki Filppu confirmed the matter in ‘s studio during the break of the match.
– This game has the same players as last Saturday. We have a rebuttal ready pending the outcome of the match and my signature.
In all probability, Finland will therefore make a protest, because its passage would mean the end result of the match turning into a 5–0 victory for Finland.
Head coach Gargelli did not want to dwell on the protest matter, but stated that the main thing is that the players want to win on the field. Captain Jani Korpela was on the same lines.
– We don’t think about those things. Other people take care of those jobs. We play games and we want to win every game.
According to the rules of the international football association Fifa, a player is required to have citizenship and, in addition, eligibility to play in one of the following ways: by birth in the country, either of the parents or grandparents was born in the country, or the player has lived in the country for five years.
Although the first objections about players without representation rights were made only now, the problem is not new. The influence of Brazilian players in Eastern European futsal countries has been significant for a long time.
Jyrki Filppu told earlier On the website of the Finnish Football Association and to Urheilu that the situation has been overlooked for years, but now several countries’ tolerance has been exceeded.
– The situation has caused widespread dissatisfaction. Now a limit may have been crossed. Together with Portugal, we act as a certain kind of trend setters here, because this current way of operating does not represent the direction we want in the development of futsal.
Read more: The Futsal World Cup qualifiers are teeming with a wild twist – Armenia and Georgia scared off unrepresentable brass players in the Finnish group
According to the Finnish Football Association, it is likely that the phenomenon that started with the objections of Finland and Portugal will significantly change the balance of power in futsal in Europe. Filppu said that he is incredibly proud that Finland and Portugal are now working together to fix things.
– It’s about the credibility of the entire sport. We expect all countries involved in the international competition system to commit to the current rules. The use of players without representation rights must be eradicated from the sport permanently, Filppu said.
1. Portugal: 3 wins, 9 points
2. Georgia: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 7 points
3. Finland: 1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses, 4 points
4. Armenia: 3 losses, 0 points
Protests can change the situation. Finland can get five more points if its protests about the Georgia matches go through. In this case, four points will be deducted from Georgia.
Finland ends the group on 15.12. as a guest of Portugal and 20.12. In Vantaa against Armenia.