Bulgaria friendly ends in injury-time defeat

Litmanen scores from the penalty spot, but Stuart Baxter's side lose 2-1

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Finland's national team came away from a visit to Sofia with nothing but a bitter defeat for a souvenir, as Bulgaria came from behind to win 2-1 in the Vasili Levski Stadium.
      When the clock showed 90 minutes, the sides appeared to be playing out a 1-1 draw in front of almost empty stands.
      However, in the first minute of added time Zdravko Gentsev converted from six metres in a crowded penalty area after a corner, and so head coach Stuart Baxter is still looking for his first point with the blue-and-whites.
      At the beginning of February, in his first match in charge, Finland lost to Greece by the same margin, and in not dissimilar circumstances.
     
Jari Litmanen does not seem to be able to get a game with Fulham in the English Premiership, but this has not hampered the veteran midfielder's scoring rate for Finland.
      He was again on the scoresheet on Wednesday, scoring from the penalty spot after 22 minutes when Jonatan Johansson was brought down by Zhivko Milanov. it was Litmanen's 30th international goal in 112 appearances.
      Litmanen, who was taken off after 45 minutes, showed some nice touches, and while he was around to orchestrate matters the Finnish midfield looked composed and confident.
     
The captain's departure coincided with a Bulgarian recovery, and with a certain loss of rhythm to the visitors' game.
      Within four minutes of the restart, the hosts were level through substitute Stanislav Lazarov, after the Finnish defence and goalkeeper Peter Enckelman failed to deal with a loose ball. Enckelman was slow in coming off his line to snuff out the danger, and Lazarov lobbed him from 16 metres.
      Thereafter the Bulgarians created a number of chances, and the Finnish side were only able to get in the game for fleeting moments.
     
Even so, the second Bulgarian goal came as something of a disappointment on the strength of a good first-half showing. Baxter did his best to take the good things out of the trip, and there were some: Roman Eremenko will have left a positive impression on his first appearance in front of the new boss, and Teemu Tainio also had a tidy match.
      To some extent, as so often with friendlies, the need to see a maximum number of players in action is also a burden - there is no denying that Finland's starting line-up seemed to gel rather better than the squad used in the later stages.
     
Finland's next scheduled international game will be a friendly against Turkey in Germany in late May, followed by two more friendlies in Helsinki and Tampere against Belarus and Israel respectively.
      Thereafter things get appreciably tougher and more serious, with the start of the 2010 World Cup campaign and the arrival of Germany on September 10th.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Litmanen to Sofia for Wednesday´s friendly against Bulgaria (25.3.2008)
  Opening game under Baxter leads to 2-1 defeat (7.2.2008)

Links:
  Finland National Team (Wikipedia)

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