When the head coach of the Finnish women’s football team Marko Saloranta On Thursday he released his team for the April League League matches, was a familiar striker again.
From a knee injury to a rehabilitation Jutta Rantala The name was still not found on the list.
The previous minutes of the Finnish number one striker are from the beginning of October, from the home match against Crystal Palace. Since then, the Finnish star has not been visible in the club team Leicester or the Helmarie shirt.
Rantala says by phone from his home from England that the knee rehabilitation has not been as expected.
– It has been pretty tough mentally. The injury had to last three to four months and now we are already sixth.
– It’s been pretty tough when you don’t know because you get back, but it is better to get it right at once and not to return too early and then it could go again, Rantala sighs.
In the previous European Championships in England, Rantala was the only Finnish player who couldn’t play a minute. Finland remained a jumbo and lost all three of its matches.
Now, however, the situation is different: Finland is fighting seriously against Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. However, scoring has been difficult for the beads in recent months, and Rantala would be perfect.
Last season, the Leicester striker was selected as the best player for his team, and American media ESPN raised Rantala to the so-called second season’s star opening.
Backpack in rehabilitation
The Finnish national team striker was originally supposed to be in the games after the turn of the year. In the case of a Scotland match in Edinburgh in late November, Rantala thought he would be seen in real action in January-February.
Rantala was already partially involved in his team’s practice.
– It just didn’t feel good. Rehabilitation has now gone a little slower. I’m still in the gym, but little by little I should run again over the next few weeks.
The European Football Championships will start almost a day after three months. Finland will face Iceland in Thun in the opening match of the entire tournament.
Rantala is confident that he will recover from injury by the time the race.
– We are going to get to the race. Pretty much straightforward you can play tough games. We end up with Leicester in May and then in the summer there is one camp before the race. There may not be such a feel for hard games before the race, but that’s not how quickly.
Finland’s head coach Marko Saloranta could not take a stand on Thursday because Rantala will be seen in the Finnish national team, but said he was waiting for the attacker to return.
– Rehabilitation was a bit delayed, but we believe we might get him for the next event. I dare not say when there is no exact information yet, Saloranta spun.
Little Jäämä for a long time included
Helmarit opened the League of Nations with disappointment, with only a 1-0 victory over Hungary from the first window. Serbia Finland bent 0-1 on the away field.
In the April window, Finland will meet in Milan on Friday 4.4. Belarus and Tampere four days later in Hungary.
Rantala is not the only player on the sidelines due to injury. In addition to him are in the last window injured credit bumper Natalia Kuikka and the Finnish opening players Ria Öling.
Kuikka injured his knee in a match against Serbia. Saloranta cannot say because the top joy is again with Finland.
– The injury is not as serious as we were afraid at first. However, this is not a matter of weeks.
The back injury, for its part, has kept öling away from the latest games of his club Crystal Palace.
– Ria should be back to the shortest, but we didn’t want to take any risk.
Midfield Emmi Alanen It has not been with the pearls for a while, but according to Saloranta, the Konkari is still in use on the national team.
– He is by no means out of the bills. Emmi’s last year was quite broken, there were many breaks in training. We have a big list of players, who is on the list and Emmi is on that list.
– He is an extremely experienced and good player player. Now that he has returned to the field, he hopes he will remain intact in Kristianstad. Emmi is definitely a topical player when choices are made.
Keeper Let Tamminen is the strongest candidate for the European Championships for the long-term captain Tinja-Riikka Korpelan Challenging for the number one guard. However, Tamminen injured his fingers in the previous national team window and was not seen in either match.
Tamminen has also been on the sidelines for his club team Hammarby’s matches.
– He hasn’t been in full practice yet. The finger injury forces you to be on the sidelines for a while, but probably not for a terribly long time. For Anna, I can’t say the date because she’s back, but hopefully fast, Saloranta comments.
There is enough competition on the goalkeeper front, as Djurgården has moved to Djurgården Anna Koivunen In addition, the game time is struggled with the April League League matches named for the team Katriina Talaslahtiwho plays the French league in Dijon’s ranks.
Milla-Maj Majasaari In turn, he represents Crystal Palace in the English Super League.
Helmarit also got good news when the defender on the sidelines of the day of the year Elli Pikkujämsä named to the team.
Likewise, Pikkujämsä, who has suffered from a knee injury, has been in the first match of the season in the line -up of his club team Racing Louisville, but minutes have not yet accumulated.
– I’m really excited and happy for Ell. It’s great to get her back. He has a big difference to the team and is a valuable player for us, Saloranta incense.
– Of course, you can’t assume that she plays two ninety minutes right away, but she brings us a lot more. With his qualities, he is able to bring changes inside the game.
The team named Marko Saloranta could accommodate two national league players: HJK topper Maaria Roth and KuPS striker Aino Kröger.
– There have been discussions with Aino along the way. Aino is always a goalkeeping threat in her team and we believe she is well suited to our upcoming matches. He has been strong in the domestic league and is able to arrange goals for others. That’s why he is in the group and deserved his place, Saloranta begins.
In addition to Kuikka, the defense has not only moved to Djurgården Nanne Ruuskanen. It opened a place for Roth.
– Maaria dominates our home in the league and has been extremely good as a top. He is constantly evolving, even though he turns 28 this year. I think he has earned a place on the team.
The Finnish women’s soccer team will meet in the League of Nations on Friday, April 4, Belarus and Hungary in Tampere on April 8. The Hungary match can be watched from 6 pm on TV2, Arena and .