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Well poo poo, it's the first time mens' national team has qualified for a major tournament, so you will get something of a thread. Finnish national football team Football Association of Finland, founded 1907 Appearances in the World Cup: - Appearances in the Euros: 1 (2020) Nickname: Huuhkajat ("Eagle owls") During Euro qualifier between Finland and Belgium in 2007, the resident eagle owl of Helsinki Olympic stadium, nicknamed "Bubi" decided to make an actual pitch invasion, the score at 0-0. Play was stopped for some minutes, and the national team, at that point coached by Roy Hodgson, finally won the game 2-0. Obviously Bubi was the push needed for the win, and "Huuhkajat" pretty comfortably ended up as the popular team nickname. https://youtu.be/Q_ad8Iu7AJI Qualifying path:  Finland finished as runner-up in its qualifying group J, behind Italy, with record of six wins to four losses (Italy home and away, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece away). The night qualification was clinched against Liechtenstein at home was a goddamn magical night, before the corona times and everything: https://youtu.be/T8HJy-PwXGc The coach:  Markku Kanerva spent his playing career mostly in Finnish leagues as a central defender, with a small stint over in Swedish league in 80s. His coaching career during 2000s has been strictly in Finnish circles - he's been involved in U21 and the men's national team since mid 00s. Teacher by education, he took the reins after the swede Hans Backe was fired in 2016. Tactically, Kanerva has to me felt like a flexible coach - Finnish formation has switched between games surprisingly lot, from 5-4-1 to 4-4-1-1 to 5-3-2 and so on. Three central defender backfield has not been uncommon. The squad: It might not be the strongest team on paper fielded by Finland ever, compared to something like squads with likes Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä and Antti Niemi back in Muurinen and Hodgson managerial eras, but these guys got the job done, and the core plays central roles in decent to ok leagues. The official squad announcement vid was very much good feels: https://youtu.be/eIYMxe-Mtko Goalkeepers 1 Lukas Hradecky, Bayer 04 Leverkusen 12 Jesse Joronen, Brescia Calcio 23 Anssi Jaakkola, Bristol Rovers  Hradecky is the undisputed starter, and a key player for the team. Pretty much a clear starter for Leverkusen, he's been dependable stalwart between the the goalposts for national team. Jesse Joronen playing in Serie B is a fine back-up option. Defenders 2 Paulus Arajuuri, Pafos FC 3 Daniel O’Shaughnessy, HJK 4 Joona Toivio, BK Häcken 5 Leo Väisänen, IF Elfsborg 13 Pyry Soiri, Esbjerg fB 15 Sauli Väisänen, Chievo Verona 17 Nikolai Alho, MTK Budapest 18 Jere Uronen, KRC Genk 22 Jukka Raitala, Minnesota United 25 Robert Ivanov, Warta Poznan Joona Toivio and Paulus Arajuuri are the default choices, assuming two central defenders. Jukka Raitala will take left flank, Jere Uronen the right. Defense lacks the Hyypiä kind of granite hard star player, but should be decent enough. In the qualifying campaign, team had ten goals against in ten games, and four of those in single 4-1 drubbing from Bosnia and Herzegovina away. Midfielders 6 Glen Kamara, Rangers FC 7 Robert Taylor, SK Brann 8 Robin Lod, Minnesota United 11 Rasmus Schüller, Djurgårdens IF 14 Tim Sparv, AEL Larissa 16 Thomas Lam, PEC Zwolle 19 Joni Kauko, Esbjerg fB 24 Onni Valakari, Pafos FC   Glen Kamara and Tim Sparv are the key pieces. Kamara has been excellent pretty much throughout his national team career, continuously opening plays in both directions with smart passing and positioning. He should overall be the most valuable player for the team. Sparv is the team captain, and has been dependable for Huuhkajat in the more defensive end of midfield. At 34 he's also the oldest player in the squad. Forwards 9 Fredrik Jensen, FC Augsburg 10 Teemu Pukki, Norwich City FC 20 Joel Pohjanpalo, 1. FC Union Berlin 21 Lassi Lappalainen, CF Montreal 26 Marcus Forss, Brentford FC  Unsurprisingly, Teemu Pukki should be the easy number one starter. He's been a powerful forward with a good knack for finding those necessary, clinical finishes when the opportunity arises, both in national team and back in Norwich. Should Kanerva choose to play two more pure forwards, or need a sub for Pukki (who had some small health issues at the end of Championship season), Joel Pohjanpalo with his strong showing in Bundesliga, and Marcus Forss who saw Brentford promoted this spring, are the next two choices. Schedule Finland drew to group B together with Denmark, Belgium and Russia. 12 June 2021 Denmark - Finland (Copenhagen) 16 June 2021 Russia - Finland (Saint Petersburg) 21 June 2021 Finland - Belgium (Saint Petersburg) No doubt, it is a tough schedule. Especially with whatever restrictions on travel and attendance in place, the opening brace of games are very much away games. But it's a short tournament in strange times, so poo poo can happen right? Belgium will absolutely be too much to handle, but Russia and maybe Denmark could be surprised once, even at home. Kaikkia päihin!
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Jun 2, 2021 23:02
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Everyone's got group F as the group of death but this group is my 'knife fight in a phone box' group where anyone could conceivably get a win and the big boys are extremely capable of bottling it. Very tight margins. I sort of fancy the first-time flying Finns to qualify and have an Icelandesque run tbh
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Jun 3, 2021 09:11
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Think Kamara is going to shine this tournament. Such good close control and he’s full of confidence.
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Jun 3, 2021 09:33
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Thank you for the excellent op, op. I will be rooting for my Nordic Mongolian friends against the perfidious Dane
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Jun 6, 2021 20:50
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Excellent primer (in Swedish) on Jari Litmanen and Finnish football: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2FGa0KelFoo5BTTXBc9yVC?si=nqhhV2PbSIS1zlIdV-6Exg
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Jun 6, 2021 22:59
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Ah, this must be the finnish soccer containment zone.  Thank god they didn't make us go thru the qualifying rounds again, that would've been a gigantuan twist of fate that would rival the last minute own goal that torpedoed our chances to the 1998 world cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-q65Qjy1M&t=86s
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Jun 8, 2021 17:28
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We Do Not Talk about that game.
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Jun 10, 2021 19:50
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its too bad for Finland they have to be in a group with the euros winners and Belgium, had a decent shot otherwise
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Jun 10, 2021 21:18
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UnderFreddy posted:its too bad for Finland they have to be in a group with the euros winners and Belgium, had a decent shot otherwise Technically we might have a chance with Denmark and Russia, then it's just about getting a draw with Belgium. I say this, while the dress rehearsal against Estonia was a total flop.
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Jun 11, 2021 17:02
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SOON https://youtu.be/dT3lfow7tyw
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Jun 11, 2021 19:18
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https://twitter.com/Huuhkajat/status/1403592907811016705?s=20
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Jun 12, 2021 12:24
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Jun 12, 2021 16:21
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Ugh, I could do without the nationalist waxing in the media.
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Jun 12, 2021 16:48
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I'm so ready!
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Jun 12, 2021 16:54
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Lod being yellow card worth rude.
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Jun 12, 2021 17:04
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Well, first 15 minutes have been more or less Danish domination. No goals yet, but Finland needs to step up their pressure if they wanna play. Also they need to rely less on Pukki, he is marked from all fronts.
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Jun 12, 2021 17:16
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Hopefully all of the Finnish lads survive the tournament, the odds of that don't seem great so far
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Jun 12, 2021 17:37
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Alexeythegreat posted:Hopefully all of the Finnish lads survive the tournament, the odds of that don't seem great so far Well this was a grim foreshadowing.
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Jun 12, 2021 17:45
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No. 1 Callie Fan posted:Well this was a grim foreshadowing. Yikes. :/
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Jun 12, 2021 17:59
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Match suspended. I'm just speechless.
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Jun 12, 2021 18:06
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Alexeythegreat posted:Hopefully all of the Finnish lads survive the tournament, the odds of that don't seem great so far Yeah, didn't look too good for the opponents either.
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Jun 12, 2021 18:10
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https://twitter.com/UEFA/status/1403765507682193409?s=20 With the reports of med staff seen applying chest compression at one point (not sure how credible that is, but I've seen it at more than one site), this is fantastic news. To temper things, though, stabilized does not necessarily mean "safe". A little over a year and half ago, I was in ICU and stabilized, but I was still at risk of just up and dying. I was actually fearing ruptured aortic aneurysm based on reports of sudden collapse. I knew someone who died of that. Walking around and talking one moment, then the next just crumpled to the ground like his strings had been cut. Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jun 12, 2021 |
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Jun 12, 2021 18:37
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Looks like the game will continue at half o'clock. Thankfully this didn't end even more badly as one would have possibly feared.
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Jun 12, 2021 19:13
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After the first half, total attempts at goal: 12 - 0  Denmark is just rolling over us.
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Jun 12, 2021 19:44
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No. 1 Callie Fan posted:After the first half, total attempts at goal: 12 - 0 But total prevented goals are 0 - 12 
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Jun 12, 2021 19:54
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No. 1 Callie Fan posted:Denmark is just rolling over us.
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Jun 12, 2021 19:55
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JESUS CHRIST WHAT WAS THAT
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Jun 12, 2021 19:55
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No. 1 Callie Fan posted:After the first half, total attempts at goal: 12 - 0 Ha ha, nice.
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Jun 12, 2021 19:57
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Pohjanpalo!
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Jun 12, 2021 19:59
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There was like four players circling Pukki inside the 16, so of course that meant other players had space for the header. The pressure is now on ther Danes to equalize.
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Jun 12, 2021 19:59
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Well at least got ”first Finnish goal scorer” correct in our workplace betting pool.
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Jun 12, 2021 20:01
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Hradecky, that was a sweet save on that penalty.
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Jun 12, 2021 20:10
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Mitä helvettiä tää matsi
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Jun 12, 2021 20:11
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4 minutes additional time. Can it be?
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Jun 12, 2021 20:26
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FULL TIME 1-0
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Jun 12, 2021 20:29
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Torille!
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Jun 12, 2021 20:30
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Lol if you have ever lost a game in the euros
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Jun 12, 2021 20:31
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Kehveli posted:Lol if you have ever lost a game in the euros
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Jun 12, 2021 20:33
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Danes 22 shots 0 goals Finland 1 shot 1 goal Step up, Hamlets
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Jun 12, 2021 20:33
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Aw, Pohjanpalo says in the interview he can only think about Eriksen at the moment.
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Jun 12, 2021 20:35
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