Tag Archive | "Jari Litmanen"
Johansson pleased with Euro 2012 qualification draw
New TPS signing Jonatan Johansson is content with Sunday’s Euro 2012 draw that placed Finland in qualification group E alongside Sweden, Netherlands, Hungary, Moldova and San Marino. “Netherlands are the favourites”, Johansson stated the obvious. “It is great to play Sweden after a long time. They are going through some changes and are unsure who is [...]
Continue reading...Finland 2009 in pictures, part one
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
This is the first in a series of posts that will aim to tell something about Finland’s 2009 season using photgraphs. The pictures should form a gallery, when you click on one of them, but the text is not visible in those galleries. Thanks to Tero Wester, Petteri Lehtonen and FutisForum2 for all their help [...]
Continue reading...Johansson scores one and sets up another as Finland draw in Hamburg
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
It was billed as the day Finland’s young players would come of age, and those that played certainly did that. Roni Porokara was a constant threat to Beck on Finland’s left wing, Kasper Hämäläinen linked up on the other wingand was not overawed in front of a crowd 12 times larger than his club’s average [...]
Continue reading...Evolution beats revolution as Wales fall to Finland
Sunday, October 11, 2009
*Scroll down for highlights* It wasn’t exactly a momentous occasion. In the run-up to the game someone had scrawled “PALLOLIITTO HAISTAKAA VITTU” (“Finnish FA get to fuck”) on the wall outside the Football Association’s offices, evidence of the hostility Finland’s football decision makers can face when their performance is deemed unsatisfactory. The hostility comes from small [...]
Continue reading...Finland v Wales: end of an era?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
That’s the question that’s dominated a lot of the buildup to the penultimate game of Finland’s World Cup qualifying campaign. After the disaster in Liechtenstein, debate has centred on Stuart Baxter’s continued stewardship of the national team. The former South Africa coach and those within the Finland camp have emphasised the importance of retaining third [...]
Continue reading...Baxter loses face in Liechtenstein
Friday, September 11, 2009
Finland were so utterly rubbish in the matches against Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein that it simply defies belief. Wednesday night goes down among the worst nights in the history of Finnish football. It wasn’t just that it was bad, it was bloody embarrassing. If this is the best that Mr. Baxter can provide with the selection [...]
Continue reading...FC Lahti v Club Brugge almost live blog!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
2pm: I’m going to endeavour to write a live blog on the game today. Last time we did this for a Euro game the site had some technical problems, and that is quite likely to happen again – if it does, we will switch to NFN’s Twitter page. I’ll endeavour to answer comments as the [...]
Continue reading...Puntteri´s pick of the week: RoPS
Friday, July 24, 2009
In the first of a new semi-regular feature, Puntteri picks out a promising bet from the weekend programme. Jekyll and Hyde team RoPS host FC Lahti this weekend Latest 6 games from the right: RoPS: 0-0-3-0-3-3 —- Lahti: 0-0-3-1-1-1 Head to Head: 3-8-9 This season: 29.04.2009 Lahti – RoPS 4-1 The head to head stats do not support my idea of [...]
Continue reading...Haka and HJK pull clear, Tamperelaiset get rained on
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK’s South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, [...]
Continue reading...Riku Riski, heir to the throne
Sunday, May 17, 2009
OK, maybe I am taking a step too far in comparing this 19-year old to Mr Litmanen. Still, what a performance! Riski, or RR10, as his recently innovated nickname goes, beautifully set up TPS’s winning goal against VPS and also put the ball past Henri Sillanpää himself. He was composed with the ball, passing precisely [...]
Continue reading...Veikkausliiga 2009 preview: FC Lahti
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
In: Mohamed Fofana, Toni Huuhka, Jussi Heikkinen, Niki Helenius Out: Pyry Kärkkäinen, Pekka Kainu, Eetu Sassila Coach: Ilkka Mäkelä Claimed playing budget: €440,000
Continue reading...Finland in Norway = did you bring your boots?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
After a lot of tut-tutting over Craig Bellamy’s idiotic comments, the Finnish squad is looking a little bit threadbare as they prepare for the vitally important friendly against Norway. Lillestrom keeper Otto Fredriksson will watch the game from the sidelines so as to avoid aggravating a troublesome knee. Niklas Moisander has decided he doesn’t want [...]
Continue reading...Craig Bellamy in ‘petulant stupidity’ shocker
Sunday, March 29, 2009
This version of Bellamy’s post-match interview was mocked up by a Finland fan, as you can probably work out from the eagle owl and sheep-bothering montage at the end. I’ve seen it a couple of times now, and I still can’t quite believe that Craig Bellamy (international goals: 16) is criticising Jonatan Johansson (international goals: [...]
Continue reading...Wales 0 Finland 2
Saturday, March 28, 2009
HBL had a column from Christoffer Herberts this morning, riffing on the idea that Wales and Finland are so similar as to be almost mirror images of each other. They both have a lot of injuries, they’ve both struggled to qualify for a major tournament for over 50 years, they both sruggle with a dominant [...]
Continue reading...Wales v Finland preview
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen’s fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [...]
Continue reading...League Cup Quarter finals: King 23 Czar 45
Sunday, March 22, 2009
HJK Helsinki 2 Lahti 2 (HJK win 5-3 on penalties) Highlights Jari Litmanen and Valeri Popovitch played yesterday in the battle of the wily, legendary old boys, or ‘the king’ against ‘the czar’ as it was billed by various Finnish media. Litmanen is of course the king, having played at the highest level throughout his career and [...]
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Monday, February 8, 2010
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