EURO 2009: Finland overcome Holland to win group

Quarter-final place assured, regardless of outcome of Saturday's game with Ukraine

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Finland’s women footballers beat Holland 2-1 last night in a rainy Olympic Stadium in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 16,000, and in so doing ensured they would progress to the quarter-finals of the European Championships as group winners.
      The Finns started very brightly, with the ball barely going into their half of the field in the first five minutes as the visitors struggled to cope with the combination of Laura Österberg Kalmari and Essi Sainio.
     
The enterprising approach paid dividends as early as the 6th minute, as Petra Vaelma swung a decent cross over from the right that was met at the far post by Österberg Kalmari, whose looping header went over everybody into the back of the net.
      The Finns didn’t take their foot off the gas, but continued to look much the more attractive side, racking up corners and creating chances, including one that Anna Westerlund should probably have buried, but the ball fell unexpectedly at her feet from a deflection and she scuffed the shot into the grateful arms of the Dutch keeper.
     
The Dutch struck back after 24 minutes, largely against the run of play, through a smart run and shot by Kirsten Van de Ven, although in all honesty the Finnish defence ought to get equal credit for the goal.
      By rights this should have given the visitors some Dutch courage, but the Finnish midfield under Anne Mäkinen continued to dominate things, and more chances were carved out.
      Vaelma let fly from distance and was unlucky to see the ball ping back off the crossbar - Österberg Kalmari failed to put away the rebound.
     
It remained all square until half-time, when Westerlund was replaced by Annica Sjölund, who slotted into a more forward position and immediately showed some nice touches.
      Finland again pushed up in numbers, creating plenty of opportunities, but the Dutch defence - well marshalled in the middle by captain Daphne Koster - just about coped with the onslaught without being able to create anything much going forwards.
      Laura Österberg Kalmari was clearly in the groove by this stage, and was bossing the midfield as much as she was causing problems for the Dutch defence.
     
It was only fair, therefore, that she should be the one to benefit from a prettily-worked move down the left that ended in an inviting cross from Maija Saari. Österberg Kalmari rose between two Dutch players and planted the ball firmly past Loes Guerts for 2-1.
      It was the 30-year-old striker's 32nd goal (in 112 appearances) in a Finnish shirt, in a international career that has been interrupted by her becoming a mother in 2008.
      She made a return to the national squad in February, but almost immediately was on the sidelines again with a broken collarbone.
     
The excitement basically ended with the second Finnish goal, because what happened thereafter was that all the gas went out of the match, like a shrivelled balloon a week after May Day.
      The last twenty minutes are in fact a little hard to describe.
      I’m not quite sure what we were witnessing, to be honest: much of it “did not compute” in my limited understanding of football.
      After the header went in, the Finns showed little desire for stepping on the opposition’s throat and scoring a third or fourth time, but every enthusiasm for retreating and sitting on a one-goal advantage that could have been quite fragile.
     
Instead we were regaled with a series of meaningless moves involving the Finnish back three and the goalkeeper, which really ought to have been seized on by hungry Dutch strikers eager to get a share of the spoils.
      But what did the Dutch players do? Basically, they did nothing except look anxiously towards the bench for some advice on how to respond.
      After ten minutes of this near-farcical stuff, it did actually begin to make vague sense: perhaps Finnish coach Michael Käld was possessed of mystical powers and KNEW that the Dutch were a spent force and were happy to go down tamely 2-1.
      As the minutes ticked away and nothing happened to prevent the quartet of Tinja-Riikka Korpela, Sanna Valkonen, Tiina Salmén, and Petra Vaelma from enjoying some passing practice in their own half, it was possible to salute Käld for getting away with deploying tactics that most would consider suicidal.
     
The Finns undoubtedly deserved to win by virtue of being the more enterprising of the two teams, but I couldn’t help noticing some odd paradoxes along the way.
      The most obvious was that whilst the ball was constantly being hoofed into the Dutch penalty area, either from the numerous corners won or simply by virtue of crosses from the wings, the visitors’ back line looked conspicuously more solid than did the hosts’ defence.
      Maybe it was because they were kept busy and kept their mind on the job.
     
In any event, on those few occasions when the largely ineffectual Dutch midfield managed to hook up with their strikers, there were a few serious “deer in the headlights” moments at the back for Finland, most noticeably the one leading to the Dutch goal.
      Even though Kirsten Van de Ven took her chance well, striking the ball crisply into the left-hand corner after turning Valkonen, the incident was preceded by the unedifying spectacle of four Finnish defenders back-pedalling furiously away from a lone Dutchwoman as if uncertain what - if anything - they ought to do about her advance.
      Manon Melis could also have got a second-half equaliser in similar circumstances, but a tackle from Salmén and a save from Korpela averted the defensive blushes.
     
Two or three times there were heart-in-mouth, pinball-bumper moments in front of the home net that could - on another night and if performed by the Finnish men’s team - have produced one of those “special” fumbled goals that are part of Finnish footballing history.
      A better team than Holland would have punished these lapses.
      Fortunately at least Korpela (who also shone against Denmark) seems to have a safe pair of hands - she didn’t miss anything all night, while her Dutch counterpart flapped nervily at a number of crosses in the first half.
     
By winning both their first games, and following Denmark’s 2-1 win over Ukraine in the neighbouring Finnair Stadium a few hours earlier, Finland are guaranteed top place in the group, regardless of the outcome of their game against Ukraine on Saturday.
      Ukraine have still to win a point and are already certain not to progress, as both Holland and Denmark have three points and will face each other on Saturday to decide who takes 2nd spot and who will have to hope they are one of the two best "lucky losers" in 3rd place.
      A draw would favour Holland, since they have scored three goals to Denmark's two and also have a better goal difference. This fact might offer a partial explanation for why the Dutch capitulated so readily after Finland scored their second goal, though it certainly does not excuse it.
     
Topping the group has its advantages for the Finns, because the winners of Group A will play the third-placed team from either Group B or Group C and will thus almost certainly avoid having to come up against the likes of reigning champions Germany (who disposed of Norway 4-0 in their opener) or Sweden, who looked impressive when beating Russia 3-0.
      The quarter-final match will be played in Turku on September 3rd.
     

Netherlands 1 Finland 2 (1-1)
     
Finland: Tinja-Riikka Korpela; Petra Vaelma, Jessica Julin (78. Anna-Kaisa Rantanen), Sanna Valkonen; Tiina Salmén, Anne Mäkinen (captain), Laura Österberg Kalmari, Anna Westerlund (46. Annica Sjölund); Linda Sällström, Essi Sainio, Maija Saari.
     
Coach: Michael Käld
     
Netherlands: Loes Geurts; Dyanne Bito, Daphne Koster (captain), Manoe Meulen, Petra Hogewoning; Anouk Hoogendijk, Annemieke Kiesel-Griffioen; Kirsten van de Ven, Manon Melis, Karin Stevens (68. Chantal de Ridder), Sylvia Smit.
     
Coach: Vera Pauw
     
Goals: 7. Laura Österberg Kalmari (0-1), 25. Kirsten van de Ven (1-1), 69. Laura Österberg Kalmari (1-2).
     
Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)
     
Attendance: 16,148
     
Weather: Intermittent rain, heavy at times, c. 15°C


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish women open Euro 2009 campaign with a win (24.8.2009)

See also:
  Freescoring Laura gearing up for UEFA Women´s European Championships (26.5.2009)

Links:
  UEFA Women´s European Championships 2009 (Wikipedia)
  UEFA

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