Why did Huhkaji’s Denmark match become a battle of survival again? One fresh face received praise from an expert: “Incredibly great game”

The Finnish men’s national football team lost to Denmark 0–1 at the sold-out Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening.

Huhkaji’s wonderful clean streak lasted almost a full five matches, but Denmark’s by Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg A long shot in the 86th minute brought Denmark a really valuable victory.

On Sunday, in the other matches of Finland’s group, Slovenia beat San Marino 4–0 and Kazakhstan won full points against Northern Ireland with a 1–0 victory.

Urheilu’s football expert Miika Nuutinen highlighted the three most interesting takeaways from the loss to Denmark and predicted a bit of what’s to come.

1) Defensive combat

Finland’s qualifying campaign has progressed in a very similar way to the historic European Championship qualifiers 2019, when Huuhkajat grabbed their first place in the prestigious competition.

In 2019, Finland started the qualifiers with an away loss to Italy, then played four clean sheets until losing at home to Italy.

Now Huuhkajat started the qualifiers with an away loss to Denmark, took four wins and kept a clean sheet, until losing at home to the group’s number one favorite Denmark.

The last time the Huuhkajats have kept their opponents clean in 2018 was in 2018, when they first played a clean sheet in an international match against Belarus and then four times in a row in the Nations League.

– Finland is currently a team against which it is difficult to score. The reason is that in the low block, Finland protects its goal well and the players’ responsibilities are clear. It was difficult for Denmark to get behind Huuhkajie, says Nuutinen.

Finland was able to keep Denmark out of their penalty area for almost the entire match. It was also not easy to break through from the mid lane with passing combinations. In the end, Denmark’s goal came with a long shot.

– The downside of such defensive battles is always that the longer you have to do it, the more often you end up having to pay a price for it, Nuutinen points out.

In the opening period, Finland was able to counterattack and hold the ball, but in the second period, fatigue struck. Of course, Finland had a difficult away trip to Kazakhstan behind them, while Denmark got to play on Thursday against San Marino on their home field.

– The image of the game was so one-sided that the end was survival. In the end, a single situation where Huuhkajat could no longer “pump” out of the box and go in front of the shot paid the price. The better team won.

2) Playing with the ball of the hooters

As in March as a guest of Denmark, Huuhkajie’s ball performance left much to be desired.

Finland couldn’t rest in peace, but had to run behind.

Denmark had 62 attacks, Finland 21. Attempts to score went to Denmark 15–4, 6–0 towards the goal.

– Homework had been done regarding the fact that Denmark can be hurt by counterattacks, and there were several good starts in the first half, Nuutinen says.

In the expert’s opinion, Huuhkajat gave up their opening game too easily and settled for long balls – with poor results.

– Finland was not able to win balls this season, and therefore did not get important periods of ball control. That’s why the pressure got to my head for almost the entire second half. The level difference between the teams was clearly visible here. Huuhkaji still has to develop, for example, in how to open the game against the press of the top countries.

3) New bearers of responsibility

Versatile Matti Peltola, 21, who plays in Veikkausliiga HJK, was seen for the first time in the Huuhkajie’s starting line-up in a qualifying match

– He played an incredibly great game and was immediately one of the best in Finland, Nuutinen enthuses.

The expert believes that Peltola will continue to be seen in the starting line-up – that’s how strong the displays were.

Kaan Kairinen, who performed excellently in Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic, was at the opening in both matches of the qualifying window, i.e. against Kazakhstan and Denmark.

According to the news, Kairinen, 24, has been constantly improving her grip even in the national team.

– However, Finland has good options for the lineup when we head towards the fateful game against Slovenia on October 14. It seems that the national team has several players who perform at a high level. There is no need to put your head around the bush in this regard.

Towards a “game of fate”

So the away game against Slovenia is coming up on October 14. Denmark and Slovenia have 13 points, Finland and Kazakhstan 12, while each team has four games left.

It is significant that Finland has already faced Denmark twice, while the other opponents will also face the big favorites of the group.

Finland beat Slovenia at their home stadium in June 2–0, but the match was really even and could have gone either way, Nuutinen reminds.

– In that game, Finland managed to be really effective in their goal positions. Of course, the early lead goal also helped the matter quite a lot. Definitely a tough game to expect.

– Slovenia is more organized than Kazakhstan, for example, and improved their game as the qualifiers progressed. The challenge is big. Denmark, as the country of the first basket, tests a little different things than Slovenia. Probably – should I say hopefully – Slovenia will not see Finland as passive as against Denmark in a month.