Finland left Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina behind in qualifying for the European Championship and surprised world champions France in a test. The outsider’s tactics stand and fall with the executor in the attack: Teemu Pukki, the striker from the English Premier League promoted Norwich, scored ten of the 16 Finnish goals in the European Championship qualification.
Most recently, the ex-Schalke struggled with an ankle injury. How well he has recovered from it will be decisive. Lukas Hradecky from Bayer Leverkusen and Glen Kamara from the Glasgow Rangers are other pillars.
Upward trend under coach Kanerva
One of the keys to the successful qualification was coach Markku Kanerva. Since the former national player and elementary school teacher took over in 2016, things have been looking up. “He has very high social skills, his coaching philosophy is based on a strong value base and clear roles for the players on the field,” said sports director Hannu Tihinen, who believes in advancing to the knockout phase. “We are very difficult to overcome and with unity we can go far. We proved that we can also beat big countries with our 2-0 away win against France last year. “
Group B, first matchday
Saturday, 6 p.m., live on ORF1:
Denmark – Finland
Copenhagen, Parken-Stadion, SR Taylor (ENG)
Possible setups:
Denmark: Schmeichel – Wass, Kjaer, Christensen, Maehle – Delaney, Eriksen, Höjbjerg – Skov Olsen, Wind, Poulsen
Finland: Hradecky – Toivio, Arajuuri, L. Väisänen – Alho, Sparv, Lod, Kamara, Uronen – Pohjanpalo, Forss
The fact that the Finns have not won a game since November 2020 does not worry goalkeeper Hradecky. “Of course we know that it will be difficult. But we don’t go to the European Championships just to take part, ”said the 31-year-old with Slovak roots. “We’re not a fucking team. We are not as weak as you think. We can also beat a big opponent. “
Denmark convinced of itself
The Danes are also convinced of themselves. “This team can beat big teams,” said former Dortmund striker Flemming Povlsen in an interview before the start of the tournament. As far as the class of the individual players is concerned, the clear favorites Belgium in Group B can hold a candle to Denmark. With goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (34) from Leicester City, captain Simon Kjaer (32) from AC Milan and playmaker Christian Eriksen (29) from Inter Milan, three world-class players form the central axis.
As other seasoned legionnaires, coach Kasper Hjulmand has Pierre Emile Höjbjerg (Tottenham), Martin Braithwaite (FC Barcelona), Thomas Delaney (Borussia Dortmund), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) and Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton) in the talon. In the storm, the young Jonas Wind from FC Copenhagen, who is swarmed by Liverpool among others, could be the perfect complement to Eriksen.
Fans tip the scales
How explosive the “Danish Dynamite” is was something Austrian football fans had to acknowledge on March 31st when the Scandinavians beat Austria 4-0 in Vienna in their World Cup qualification. In front of their own audience – there is currently the Pouvoir of the local authorities for 25,000 spectators – the Danes should do even more.
“I think the Danish fans in parking can tip the scales,” said Hjulmand. “The Parken Stadium has something special about it that can really give the home team an additional boost,” said defender Mathias “Zanka” Jörgensen, who grew up not far from the stadium and whose club FC Copenhagen is the host there.
