On Saturday, HJK got its first big win of the season, when it defeated KuPS in the final of the first National Cup in history at the end of the penalty shootout.
But what the hell was the National Cup?
This year, the women’s football main series was preceded by a new competition, the purpose of which was to offer teams competitive matches already in the winter season.
However, the goal was not realized, because according to Urheilu, some of the teams missed the competition due to financial reasons.
The reason was valid, as the new competition was not mandatory for the teams.
In the past, the league teams started in the Women’s Finnish Cup before the start of the league season, but now the Finnish cup has been moved to the summer season for teams of higher league levels.
– We wanted to offer the National League and Ykkönen clubs competitive matches and the opportunity to face each other, and the Ykkönen clubs an opportunity to test their level against league teams. On the men’s side, the Liigacup and Ykköscup have been prestigious training competitions, and we hoped to see a similar attitude towards this new training competition as well, Development Manager of the Finnish Football Association Heidi Pihlaja comment.
KuPS crushed its opponents
FC Lahti, KTP and VIFK participated in the competition from the first two teams, of which the first two were in KuPS’s group.
KuPS won all four of their matches with a goal difference of 40–0. Through the Fast Track procedure from Naisten Ykköne (you move to another service) FC Lahti from Kuopio, who got a place, first defeated at home 12–0 and away 13–0.
So there was hardly any opposition from the first team to the reigning champion, and besides, the team had to travel to Lahti and Kotka.
– The competition is really welcome in the winter season. What needs to be improved is that you have to get all the teams of the National League and Ykkönen involved, and whether the groups are the same for everyone. You also have to travel from the capital region and not regional blocks, so the competition will be more even and competitive, KuPS head coach Ojala commented below the final match.
HJK, on the other hand, played in the B group with HPS, PK-35 and Åland United. It met the islanders only once, and did not have to travel to Åland itself.
Heidi Pihlaja says that she understands the criticism of KuPS.
– Due to the small number of participants, the groups became a bit lacking, Pihlaja admits and hopes to see more teams participating in the competition in the future – if the National Cup continues.
– Thinking about the future seasons, we will hear from the clubs and their feedback from the first National Cup. It is not set in stone that, for example, Ykkönen’s teams will participate, unless they themselves have no interest in participating. I personally want to believe that there will be even more orders for this training competition in the future in the winter season.
Huge expenses for an extended trip
Against HPS in the semifinals, KuPS got to play at home and won 5–2. In the semi-finals, there was a long way to go again, when they faced Åland United.
Already in advance, the most expensive game trip in the Cup was extended by another day, when the match marked for Saturday had to be postponed to Sunday due to snow.
CEO of KuPS Jarmo Heiskanen according to the National Cup cost the people of Kuopio 50,000 euros.
The long semi-final trip also affected the preparation for the final match, as the team was back in Kuopio only on Monday.
– All of us were really tired after that, so this week has been spent reflecting. The preparation is a bit different, but we have a 12-week preseason below. I don’t think that the lightening will have anything other than a positive effect, Ollipekka Ojala talked.
In the end, KuPS defeated Åland United 2–1 in the semifinals. HJK, on the other hand, defeated TPS at home 3–0, which reached the semi-finals and returned to the National League for this season. In the semi-finals, it crushed FC Lahti 14–0.
A goal stick in the footsteps of another Pieksämäki player
Some of the football fans from Kuopio were already rubbing their eyes last weekend when, in the second half of the semi-final against Åland United, the top team marched onto the pitch Aino Kröger.
Pieksämäki’s bomber has been seen at the top of the National League’s goal exchange in recent years, and last season too, 12 hits earned him the fifth place in the goal exchange.
Head coach Ojala confirms that the experiment will not be a one-off.
– Aikku had an injury that took a long time out of the preseason. He is a really good player and striker. However, we thought that the new playing venue could open the doors to tougher circles and the national team, so we then decided to try him as a topper, Ojala opens.
– He is really good at playing football and the playing position is also successful. We now have really good experiences, of course a little more, but we are now going to push for Aikku to play in our defense line.
Somewhat similar examples can be found on the women’s side in recent history, the most famous of them representing the Portland Thorns Natalia Kuikka and the other one from Piekskämäkä Anna Auvinen. Auvinen won the league’s goalscorer in 2010 while playing as a forward and is third in the statistics of the league’s best goalscorers, but the doors to the national team only opened late, as a top scorer.
After last summer’s European Championships, Auvinen told about the end of his national team career, and his active playing career is also over, at least for the time being.
The National Football League starts on Friday, April 14. shows the National Football League on its channels, the first match Honka-KuPS on Saturday 22.4.