Huuhkajat will meet on Tuesday at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Kazakhstan’s EC qualifying match. will broadcast the match live. The studio broadcast of the match starts at 18:15 on TV2 and Areena.
The Finnish men’s national football team returns to its home field after last weekend’s big disappointment.
Huuhkajat was beaten by Slovenia with a score of 0-3 on Saturday. The loss shrunk Finland’s chances of a direct spot in the European Championships to a slim one, requiring the other teams in the group to fail.
However, hope is not lost in the team. Huuhkaji’s entire team was disappointed with the result in Ljubljana, but all its members have said that the team is ready to fight for their little straw card.
Finland must win all three of its last European Championship qualifying games to even have a chance at a place in the competition. The first win has to come today against Kazakhstan at the Olympic Stadium.
The Slovenia match offered yet another example of the Huhkaji’s annoying problem. Finland has lost more than 90 percent of all games since 2018 in which the opponent has scored the opening goal of the game. It has never won.
What do Huuhkaj think about this statistic? How bad is it for the team?
Kanerva: “Pretty hard statistics”
Finland’s head coach Markku Kanerva seemed thoughtful when Urheilu presented the statistics on Monday before the interview at the Olympic Stadium.
– Those are pretty hard statistics, Kanerva stated.
– Especially the fact that when we have won, we have scored the opening goal of the match. Of course, it emphasizes the importance of the first goal, which has also been the subject of studies. Of course, it is not impossible to turn the game into a win, but it is clearly more difficult at that time, he continues.
In 2014, Huuhkajat was last able to turn the match into a victory in the European Championship qualifiers, when the opponent hit first. At that time, the Faroe Islands fell 3–1 in Torshavn.
Kanerva emphasizes that in order to change the trend, you need the right attitude towards the opponent’s opening goal.
– Of course, we’re looking to be the first to hit. But we mustn’t get discouraged if Kazakhstan scores the first goal on Tuesday. The focus must remain on how we can turn the match around with our own means.
Finnish midfielder Kairinen too doesn’t feel at least personally that Huhkajie’s players would go into a losing position when they get into a mental lock.
– I don’t think so. Of course, it still makes the game more difficult. Now Slovenia noticed it, especially when they scored two goals to start the game. It makes things challenging.
– I don’t know about those statistics myself. However, for many years already in the national team, we have tried to play smart football, where we play unitedly as a team above all. Then at least it will be easier to protect the acquired leadership, belonging to the Huuhkajie’s more experienced guard Jere Uronen in turn states.
No mental lock before the opening goal
Could it be that there is still some kind of mental hindrance behind Huuhkajie’s dismal statistics, when the rise from chasing position to victory is practically never successful.
Urheilu’s football expert and former national team player Markus Halsti ponders from several angles whether the repetition of history can constantly paralyze the team’s players.
– I don’t think anyone thinks about that statistic when there are good results below. It is possible that the matter is somewhere in the back of your head, somewhere in the deepest part. Of course it can paralyze the team then, Halsti begins.
– Then again, if the opponent gets to score that goal, it can be activated already based on experience, that “we haven’t won or drawn in a long time, what are we doing now”.
In that situation, Halsti emphasizes the team’s internal leadership and what is planned. What should the team do next and who will take responsibility.
– I still don’t believe that before the opening goal, the statistics will weigh on the mind. That someone would be afraid of certain solutions because of that, for example. But after receiving the opening hit, it can pop up due to experience. That’s when leadership is required.
Huahkajat needs leaders on the field
Against Slovenia, Huuhkajat received such a storm in the opening half that blew the team’s game to pieces.
The plan, which turned out to be weak under heavy pressure, could not be changed even before the opening goal. After the match, among the players, for example, the captain Lukas Hradecky and Robert Ivanov resentfully criticized their own solutions.
Leadership is needed when the team needs to rally. In Ljubljana, the opening goal, and thus the defeat according to the statistics, seemed clear when Slovenia ran wild and Huuhkajat could not correct their game.
– In football, coaching cannot take extra time. And in the noise of the crowd at national team games, for example in Slovenia, you can’t do any magic tricks from the bench. In that sense, that leadership from the field is so important, says Halsti.
– When we take, for example, the leaders of recent years who ended their national team careers Tim Sparvso his kind of leadership and ability to pull the team together in a difficult situation was not visible.
Halsti also feels that leadership is one of the necessary things for Huuhkajie’s strengths to work. Unity and playing as a collective require guidance.
– For example, it was seen in press situations in Slovenia. The gaps widened as the top five players stretched far from the defensive line. It requires communication and steering, Hradecky, for example, cannot do that from the goal, but it is done from the defensive line.
– It is also necessary to raise the fact that when, for example, you are chasing the opponent’s lead, you have to dare to take risks. That too requires leadership.