Harri Pesonen and Valtteri Kemiläinen will make Sweden the preferred opponent in the final than the team of the Russian Olympic Committee.
The Finnish men’s hockey team will play in the Olympic final for the second time in history on Sunday.
Finland made its way to the final in Beijing by knocking down Slovakia in the 2–0.
Leading the tournament points market Sakari Manninen took the Lions to the 1-0 lead towards the end of the first set. Finland scored 2–0 goals Harri Pesonen praised Slovakia for playing well.
Finland’s offensive play was not in the semifinals.
– It was a relieving feeling when you got to do it empty. The game was made unnecessarily exciting. Slovakia pressed their opponents, causing the game to be a bit of a stalemate at times.
Pesonen emphasized that Finland really has a lot to do in the final.
– Or was this just a secret weapon that no cards were shown in the semi-finals? Now there’s a little surprise in the finals … Well, no. There was a little squabbling. Fetching a new flow to the last match. The goalkeeper game is great and everyone defends well.
Which do you prefer for the finals, Russia or Sweden?
– Both bad resistors, it doesn’t matter. The Swedish match was pretty tasty, it wouldn’t be a funnier final. But exactly the same. Both top teams.
Finland won 4–3 in the Swedish first division after extra time. Sweden and the Russian Olympic Committee team will meet in the semi-finals at 15.10.
Experienced Filppula: “Sunken to defend”
Finnish veteran player Valtteri Filppula hopes for a better offensive game from Lions in Sunday ‘s final.
– Defended well, but we could have attacked more. There is such a thing that can be done even better. Unnecessarily quickly sank to defend.
Filppula considers the final achievement to be a hard merit.
– It’s a big deal to get to the finals. We have to be happy with that too, but there is still hunger left. Throughout the tournament, there has been a good spirit and strong self-confidence in the team. In that sense, good to continue to the last game. It will definitely be fun, hopefully we’ll get it all out.
Zero play back Lions goalkeeper Harri Säteri praised Finland’s rock-hard defense.
– There was a lot of will and struggle. The guys are doing business for each other. Looks great in its own way. The wolves come in some, but are well defended. Slovakia did not get good goals in the final round. Difficulties and coping with them unite the group.
What does the final sound like?
– A unique moment. You should also be able to enjoy as much as possible on Sunday.
Valtteri Kemiläinen: “It was an exciting place”
Defender Valtteri Kemiläinen said after the game that the pressure of the favorite was reflected in the game.
– There was no easy win. Everyone was allowed to put on the counter. Slovakia played well, was on the defensive. It wasn’t the best game for us, but it’s a sign of a good team when you can win with a worse game. It was an exciting place. Slovakia has good flow on site. We even had pre-popular pressures, it was obvious, Kemiläinen summed up for Urheil.
Which do you prefer for the finals, Russia or Sweden?
– It does not matter. Russia has not been played here. More would be known about Sweden when it was already played against them.
The final will be played on Sunday at 6.10.
shares the media rights of the Beijing Olympics in Finland with Discovery Finland. Discovery performs the hockey exclusively on television and digital channels.
Discovery’s exclusivity doesn’t extend to radio, so the Lions ’matches are narrated live on Speech. The final match will also be closely monitored in ‘s Olympic coverage.