The route from Finland to South Africa is now even longer and harder than before. Their crucial home game against Russia was basically a re-run of the clash in Moscow last October. The scoreline was the same, and Finland was just as helpless to prevent Russia from taking the three points that might mean that the Finns will enjoy World Cup 2010 sitting at home with their wives and kids.
Russia took the control right after the kick-off. Unsurprisingly Andrei Arshavin was a key player for them, setting up his mates with just about any part of his body. One such occasion then gave Russia the lead on 27 minutes. The Arsenal star was given just enough space so he could chip the ball past Hannu Tihinen and Sami Hyypiä. Alexander Kerzhakov was set free by the excellent through ball, and the Dinamo Moscow striker showed that he has the goalscorer’s instict in scoring the opener. It looked a bit like Finland failed to establish an offside trap or simply gave Arshavin too much space.
“We didn’t try the offside trap”, revealed a disappointed Tihinen after the game. “It was a well crafted move from the Russians. The ball was kept on the ground and played to Arshavin, who chipped it well. I am not sure if he tried to do what he did, but through it went.”
The goal was followed by some Finnish pressure. The Eagle Owls had some chances to level the score. Tihinen connected to a corner from Jari Litmanen, but his header went wide of the left post. Mikael Forssell was unable to get a shot in when Jonatan Johansson provided him with an excellent chance from three meters, and, most remarkably, Johansson could not convert an easy chance late in the half.
“It was a good chance. I got an excellent pass from Litmanen, but I only got in my left foot – which, of course, is not an explanation”, Johansson revised. “I had enough time and I tried to bury the ball into the bottom left corner, but it went straight at the keeper.”
Finland failed to prolong their good period when the play re-commenced after the break. Russia killed off Finland’s attempts and created a few chances, with left back Yury Zhirkov and Arshavin posing the biggest threat. The inevitable happened on the 53rd minute, when Kerzhakov capitalised on a rebound. Finland now had a mountain to climb, and the team seemed like they would have enough to worry about in making their way up a molehill. If the game was under the slightest doubt, Konstantin Zyryanov put the game past it 20 minutes before the end of proceedings.
“Russia were better for the entire game, there’s just no complaints”, outlined Jari Litmanen, who was substituted on the 68th minute. The King was once again the motor behind the few attacks Finland had, although he couldn’t make much of a difference.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink criticised Finland for a defensive outlook, and had grounds for the claim. Finland was continously restricted to long balls to Forssell, who could not reach the desperate attempts. The only players able to cause the slightest threat were Roman Eremenko, who could build on the excellent performance he put in against Liechenstein last Saturday, and Niklas Moisander, who replaced Toni Kallio immediately after Russia scored their second. Moisander was much more productive than Kallio, despite spending much less time on the pitch. Regardless of whether head coach Stuart Baxter considers Finland’s qualifying hopes dead or not, he should seriously look into the possibility of making the switch permanent.
11. June 2009 at 12:02 am
Very well written article, I must say – like most from Mr. Salminen. I am a Russia fan and naturally, cannot help feeling pleased with the win over Finland, but I have to admit I wish the Finns better luck. How was it that Germany, the Euro 08 runner-up, was fortunate to escape from Helsinki with a 3:3 draw just months ago, in a game where Finland appeared more relaxed, confident and purposeful that in both its games against Russia? I don’t believe that Russia is by far stronger than Germany. I also thought that the Finland – Wales game earlier this year was indicative of Finnish forward progress. Not sure what has changed since then but clearly Finland hasn’t reproduced its earlier form. Baxter seems out of ideas at this point, so perhaps a coaching change is in the cards.
11. June 2009 at 7:40 am
Very good article. It´s a pity to see Finland almost out of South Africa, but I think that is the best thing to the near future of the team. Because there is a very good oportunity to try with new young players in matches agains Sweden, Liechtenstein, Azerbaian and Wales(the idea es replace ones like Jaaskelainen, Hyypia, Tihinen, Kallio, Litmanen, Johansson, Kolkka for ones like Lehtovaara, Turunen, Moisander, Porokara, P. Hetemaj, Sparv or Hakola for example), and even with that matter, it could be an oportunity to qualificate…
If Finland wins Azerbaian, Liechtenstein and Wales matches, and Germany lose in Russia, or Germany draws in Russia and in Wales, Finland would go to South Africa winning in Germany…..of course is very very complicated, but not impossible.
11. June 2009 at 8:45 am
Hyvin hyv’a”a’ article))!!
Kiitos!!!
It very nice that this article is honest and truthful!!
Aaaand we are waiting for comments of this match from one Sheffied fan)))Sheffield Wednesday as I remember))
11. June 2009 at 9:19 am
Yes, it was a frustrating though expected type of the match, the neighbour just happened to better in every single thing they did throughout the game.
I am glad I did not go to the away game in Moscow as apparently there was no need to it; my section – just like the rest of them – was full of Russians singing and chanting happily while watching their team cruise easily to a victory.
There was not a single moment in the game when Finland was in control in any part of the pitch, but at the end of the day this is a relief, a mercy killing. The time to throw lots of dead wood over board from the team is now. No more excuses and wild dreams of qualification allowed.
Thank you and a warm handshake to many, if not all of the experienced players and goodbye. You did what you could, it is just not enough.
Russia is an excellent team managed by a superb manager, I wish them luck.
11. June 2009 at 1:22 pm
Perfect honest article! But it seems to me that Finland loss is the consequence of mis-evaluation of the Russians! I’ve read a lot before the game and mostly I met the prognosis of the draw result… But it was fantastic, having nothing with the reality. It is pity that finnish guys believed in this fairytale.
11. June 2009 at 1:26 pm
sorry for mistakes in my previous post
it IS very nice
ans SheffieLd))))
I absolutelely agree with PUNTTERI and SABAS
I was thinking about this (telling “bye” to the “pensioners”)after the match.
we have to thank Litti, Tihinen and Hyypia for their carrier and games for the national team.
I wonder, can’t Henry Myntti play as well as Tihinen or Hyppia.
Can Ojala play on Litmanen position?
I suppose after few games in the starting 11 they can.And do that better ans much more QUICKER!
That’s not the only player, that is ready to play in the first national team!
11. June 2009 at 1:52 pm
“The time to throw lots of dead wood over board from the team is now. No more excuses and wild dreams of qualification allowed.”
It’s a nice idea, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. I was in the same venue on a June evening in 2005 when much the same team – JÄÄSKELÄINEN, HYYPIÄ, TIHINEN,
TAINIO, LITMANEN, KUQI, EREMENKO JR., FORSSELL, KALLIO and JOHANSSON were all in the line-up – were royally crucified by the Dutch. 4-0 it ended. All the same remarks were made, but the only departure was that of Antti Muurinen.
“Again, whoever gets the job will have some tough questions to resolve: morale is hardly likely to be high, and there are doubts over the continuing international careers of two crucial figures and Finnish footballing icons – Sami Hyypiä and Jari Litmanen.
Hyypiä, 31, was calm enough after the Dutch game, but earlier dropped dark hints at withdrawal from the national squad after the Finns lost 4-3 to the Czech Republic, while 34-year-old Litmanen has 96 caps and may just see out the century before calling it a day.
Replacements will have to be found for these and other players sooner rather than later, and the current crop of youngsters – a fully-fit Forssell aside – are not yet ready to step up.” (HS, 9.6.2005)
Four years on, I suspect the changes will now be brought on not by a willingness to throw dead wood overboard, but by the dead wood’s own decision to vote for retirement. The fact that the intervening period has not been used to prepare for this day is the big problem… It’s all somehow very reminiscent of the “lost generation” who never saw any political power during the Kekkonen era – when he went, they had to be groomed in a hurry.
11. June 2009 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for the feedback and comments, all of you.
Vano, Russia and Germany are just two different teams. Finland never really got going, but it was also because of the way Russia played. They kept the ball well, put pressure on the Finns and went forward very very fast when they got the ball. Finland didn’t really have anyone able to deal with it properly, and I think it’s very difficult for any other team too.
Sebas, it might be too early to write of Finland’s chances completely, but their fate is not in their own hands anymore, even if they win all the remaining games. Germany and/or Russia would have slip, and I do not see that happening. Russia are a very good team and we all know what Gary Lineker had to say about Germans and winning important games.
Sebas and puntteri, I agree with you. As soon as Finland loses whatever chance there is of qualifying now, the younger players should be brought in. Of Sebas’ list I would keep Jääskeläinen, Hyypiä (if he still has the motivation), Johansson (as long as he keeps scoring goals) and Kolkka (although not necessarily in the starting 11). Litmanen is still good enough, but time is inevitably running out. Kallio can be replaced by Moisander at the earliest opportunity, and I’m pretty sure Tihinen can be replaced too. He’s a solid player, but not indispensable.
11. June 2009 at 10:47 pm
Volzhanin, I don’t really think the Finns underestimated Russia. Who could they? Russia easily beat them in October and had shown their quality. The Finns knew very well that they were the underdogs. But a draw could have been possible, as Finland has a good history of playing against better sides and a sold-out Olympic Stadium is really something. There’s no way Finland would have underestimated the Russians. They were just outplayed very bad, that’s it.
Cherkasov, I have to disagree with you as far as Hyypiä is concerned. On a good day he is still a world class player. He might be 35 years old, but that’s not too much for a centre-back, especially one with his quality. And Henri Myntti was a crappy Veikkausliiga defender. If Finland are to get rid of Tihinen and Hyypiä or if the two quit themselves, Moisander and maybe Pasanen should be next in line.
Nobody really knows who could replace Litmanen, but I do know that Mika Ojala can and will not. He is first and foremost a right winger, and at the moment U21 games seem to be too much for him. Somebody like the Hetemajs or Sparv are closer to breaking into the team in my books.
W, you have a point there. On the other hand, four years ago was four years ago. If Litmanen belongs in Finland’s starting 11 four years from now at 42, contact me and I’ll buy you a beer.
12. June 2009 at 1:50 am
Juha – “four years ago was four years ago”. My point in a nutshell. What has happened in the intervening period? We have seen one acting coach (though Heliskoski is largely blameless – he was just keeping the seat warm) and two coaches who have been seduced by the “Finland can qualify” mantra and have also thought only in terms of their anticipated “campaign” contract, and have done little or nothing to address the problem that was seen even in 2005, namely of an ageing side with nobody being brought through from the lower ranks. Now it may be of course that Finland’s “golden generation” (nickel-silver, anyone?) is the one now heading for the rose-garden, and there WERE no worthy young pretenders, but I suspect in the case of both Hodgson and Baxter their eyes were firmly on a close horizon, and not on “the future”.
Both men knew and know the sentimental significance their masters at Palloliitto attach to the winning of a seat at the big table now rather than later, and that their continued tenure in their jobs depends on success now rather than on team-building. Unfortunately it has all gone on too long.
I cited the Holland example because the mood was very similar – I was there and I spoke to many of the players after the game -and the press reaction was almost identical. It was a wake-up call that went unheeded. I almost hope the Baku match ends goalless, because that will force everyone’s hand, though doubtless the old “pots in the draw” argument will be wheeled out to ensure the same familiar faces are there for Liechtenstein and Wales, regardless of how well the Under-21s do in Sweden.
Twitter: EganRichardson
Says:
12. June 2009 at 9:49 am
Vano: The difference between Russia and Germany is that the German side are enjoying using their national team as a way of expressing their carefree teutonic happiness, spreading love and joy around the world, trying to extinguish the memory of the deathless anti-football Loddar and the kaiser wrought on world football in pursuit of so many championships. They want people to like them, and people should – a dropped point or two isn’t important in the grand scheme of things, and that 3-3 was a fantastic game to watch. Defensive frailty and possibly even a mental brittleness might yet become part of the German national team’s mindset.
Russia, on the other hand, have a promising group of players under one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best. They have won nothing yet and are hungry to do so, and their football is sometimes breathtaking. I wish them all the best – this team could eclipse Lobanovskiyi’s, if it hasn’t already.
Sebas, Voova: I don’t think wholesale change is desirable yet. What is necessary is a sober evaluation of each player’s worth to the team: on Wednesday we saw just how appalling Kallio’s retention has been, in the face of Moisander’s success, and that change would improve the team. It has nothing to do with ‘development’, it’s just picking the best players for the task. As for finding a new Litmanen, well. That’s not possible. He is one of the greatest players ever to play the game, and so long as he wants to play for Finland and retains a semblance of fitness (while accepting that his role will diminish with time), he is and should be welcome in the squad. The same goes for Hyypiä (maybe not the ‘best ever’ bit, but you know what I mean: the man’s a class act, and if he can help the transition he owes it to Finland to do so).
I fear Voova has spent rather too long in the company of drunken Tampere United fans to make an objective evaluation of Henri Myntti’s potential. He is a competent forward, but not at the top level, and he cannot really play as a central defender. Today’s papers seem to be suggesting that Hyypiä and Tihinen both go, to be replaced by Moisander and Pasanen in the middle, with Lampi and Raitala as the full-backs. We’ll see if that happens – I’d have no objection to Hyypiä continuing so long as the centre back pairing has some element of pace.
W: I like the Kekkonen comparison, but I think the crucial thing is that Baxter brings his own men in who can view things objectively. The coaching staff has remained largely the same, and Baxter lives in Sweden. He cannot adequately scout all potential players on his own, and of course as you point out, he was never meant to.
I think there has been a certain amount of free-riding in the national team. The two European Cup winners are world class, and deserve the respect, adulation and automatic selection that they’ve received. The rest don’t, and that they’ve been almost undroppable is a mistake.
12. June 2009 at 10:39 am
W, I see now. Missed your point first, sorry for that. I agree, the Finns have just been waiting for the change of guard to happen, nothing much has been done to make it happen. The ever-present defender problem is a sad example. Every time a key defender has been missing, calling up a replacement has been a pain in the ass. Moisander had to win the Dutch title before anyone recognised him, a clear indication that the national team hasn’t quite been on the cutting edge.
I have to join Egan’s line of thinking. While the team is too old, age is not a problem in itself (as Litmanen constantly demonstrates by always being one of the best players in the team). Quality is what matters, and Finland now have to assess whether the likes of Tihinen and Kallio still have enough of it to keep Moisander out of the team.
15. June 2009 at 10:41 am
Maybe because of that fact, Egan))but Henri is playing in Hansa (not a very bad club), and he can surprise everyone both as a defender and as a striker))
of course I like Litmanen and Hyypia!They’ve been great some yeares ago.(As you remember I’m a Liverpool fan since 1996).And I’ve made their names on the back of Liverpool home-form!Not Steve G or Carragher, but these #4 and #37 players.They were great.But really were.Of course if there are no good defenders at all-only they can save Finland.But Tihinen and Kallio((They are really poor((Kallio((Fulham((But how many seconds did he play this and previous season.And Zirich also is not a great club((It’s a pity that I didn’s see Moisander in AZ much, but he is younger and that is important during quick and agressive teams as Russia.
Juha,I don’t think Litmanen made any danger for Akinfeev in both 0-3 games with Russia.I didn’t see anything at all.I’ve seen Ojala playing as central midfielder in few games and I liked that(he is a great player I think, inspite of the fact that he is from Inter).
Can you tell me why Antti Pohja isn’t with the first team now.Even on the bench…
And I think Hodgson’s team was much more intersting than Baxter. As I know Hogson has real experience with good club, but Baxter…..has nothing….
That’s just my opinion.
20. June 2009 at 8:58 pm
please write finland full player number.