Finland is tonight the 3rd and last opponent of the Belgians in Group B. One point is enough to advance as group winner to the 1/8th finals at this European Championship. Stef Wijnants, the commentator at the match of the Finns against Denmark (1-0 win) and Russia (1-0 loss), outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the European Championship debutant.
Weakness 1: FIFA Ranking 54
Finland is only there at the European Championship because 24 countries can participate. This indicates what level they are at. In the preparation they lost to Estonia, number 116 in the FIFA ranking, without Pukki. Finland itself is number 54, Belgium number 1.
Weakness 2: no core European experience
Only 2 players of the broad basic team have played in Europe: goalkeeper Hradecky with Leverkusen and midfielder Kamara with Rangers (including against Standard).
Then you know where coach Marrku Kanerva should get players. Those are not top players.
The defense at Finland consists of players from HJK Helsinki (Fin), Pafos (Cyp) and BK Häcken (Swe). The wingers play for Minnesota United, the number 9 in the MLS, and Genk (Jere Uronen). Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku should have no problems with that.
Rangers against Standard in the Europa League this season: Vanheusden against Kamara.
Weakness 3: Finland plays with very low block
They won against Denmark and the Finnish block was even higher, but they still conceded 22 attempts.
They conceded 16 goals against Russia. They played very low, but still allowed a one-two in their own 16 at the Russian goal (see video below). Our agility is of a higher order than the Russian one. If the Finns are that low, they will die.
The Finns don’t attack much either and certainly don’t play in the opponent’s half all the time. Because they play so low, they always have to cover a lot of distance to the other goal.
Strong point 1: team has been playing together for 12 years
This squad actually has less talent than previous generations with Jari Litmanen (Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool), Sami Hyypiä (Liverpool) and Mikael Forssell (Chelsea). But the base of this team has been playing together for 12 years.
They took part in the 2009 European U21 Championship with the same coach from then. That team knows each other very well: they know well what they can do and, above all, what their shortcomings are. And they try to mask that as much as possible.
Coach Markku Kanerva and the boys in his selection know each other through and through.
Strong point 2: defend ground to the utmost
In a regular European Championship qualifier you know that this will be a big win. But at a European Championship everyone goes to the extreme. Finland does not belong to Scandinavia, the Finns are not Normans and Vikings, who conquer. The Finns are going to defend their own territory with all their might. They have already done that in the last 2 matches.
You know Jere Uronen (from Racing Genk).
Strong point 3: some good football players
The general public knows next to none of the Finnish selection. I picked 6 names anyway.
Only Jere Uronen actually plays strong. Defensively, he can hardly be caught making a mistake. And offensively, he provided the assist for the goal against Denmark. At Genk, Uronen did not play much, because the Mexican Arteaga was preferred. Uronen is out of contract next season, so he may still be able to make a transfer.
There is one player who can handle the ball: Robin Lod, which is the 2nd Finn to play for Minnesota, the 9th in the MLS. Hji is the creative midfielder, technically skilled, can turn away and make an opening. But he has to play low and the distance to be covered is great.
Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky has been playing for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for years and is therefore not a loser. But he has strange twists in his head. He is something of a cult hero with statements like “Beer is made to be drunk.” He was fickle against Denmark: he released many balls, but also took a penalty. It won’t be the goalkeeper’s fault.
Goalscorer Joel Pohjanpalo is not a super striker, but works hard. He has a good detente. He is 1.85 meters, but still won a lot of headers in the 2 matches. There will be a lot of long balls and he heads them through to Pukki. He can play deep and high, always duels and comes right in front of the man.
The man that everything revolves around is Teemu Pukki. For now, it is more famous for its name than for what it has shown. He is the top scorer of the European Championship preliminary round with 10 of the 16 Finnish goals. Yet he also plays very low, up to 10 meters in front of his own 16. He comes from injury and has not played for the European Championship for a long time. Yet he is not doing badly, even though he is on an island.
Finally, there is also Glen Kamara, a defensive midfielder in the style of Makelele or Vieira who always plays for Rangers. He has become champion and could come into his own in a better team. He is also fully involved in the defense system.
Teemu Pukki is the star, but he hasn’t been able to show much yet.
Conclusion
I want to end with a fun fact. At the European Championship, the Finnish fans often sing the supporters song “O Finland, O Finland, it’s a beautiful country. We have sauna, drink and trees”. All that may be, but they certainly don’t have top footballers. The Red Devils cannot commit themselves to that.
Stef Wijnants
