FA President: Muurinen to continue as coach for World Cup qualifiers

Antti Pohja gets call-up for Andorra and Armenia matches

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Head coach Antti Muurinen only carried out minor adjustments when selecting players for the Finnish national football team's next two World Cup 2006 qualifiers against Andorra and Armenia.
      Tampere United striker Antti Pohja was called in, while Jonatan Johansson and Miika Koppinen, who both underperformed against Romania last week, were dropped from the squad.
      For the Andorra game Muurinen will still have to choose two more players, while there is one post available for the away match against Armenia after Mika Väyrynen's suspension expires.
     
A far more interesting question than that of the player options is Muurinen's own future as the Finland coach in his third major tournament. Though there have been calls for Muurinen's head on the Finnish football Internet pages, the President of the Finnish FA Pekka Hämäläinen confirms that "Ana (Antti Muurinen) will carry on as the coach until the end of the tournament".
      In the squad selection press conference, when asked about Muurinen's position after the Romania defeat, Hämäläinen replied: "The qualifying games have just started and the coach matters are always deliberated. However, I rule out further speculations at this point. Muurinen's position is not threatened."
      Last week Finland took a 1-2 defeat against Romania in its opening World Cup qualifier in Bucharest.
      Muurinen's player choices were unsurprising, and the Finnish performance on the night was less than inspiring.
     
According to Hämäläinen, Finland's objective is to make it to the World Cup 2006 tournament in Germany. To achieve this the team has to win or come second in its qualifying group.
      When asked if this aim was realistic in a group with such football giants as The Netherlands and the Czech Republic, Hämäläinen replied: "In modern football, if one does not set out with victory in mind, one can be sure never to achieve it either. Greece's Euro 2004 Championship was a good example, as was Latvia's qualifying for the games."
      Muurinen confirms that there have been no negotiations with Hämäläinen concerning his future as the head coach.
      Finland's target now is to collect nine points in the next three World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and twice against Armenia. There are no alternatives, if there is to be any hope of Finland making it to the top two in Group One of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.
      The football autumn climaxes in October when Finland plays a tough fixture against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Romania 2 Finland 1: Finns lose opening World Cup qualifier in Bucharest (19.8.2004)

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