Finnish women footballers fall at the final hurdle: Denmark head to World Cup finals

print this

Finland's women's football team needed a draw from their final qualifying match, away to Denmark, to secure a historic berth at next year's World Cup finals in China. However, a 56th-minute headed goal from Maiken Pape was enough to see the Danes through at the top of the group.
      As expected, the Finns were under the gun throughout the first half of a match that Denmark had to win. Goalkeeper Minna Meriluoto pulled off a string of saves to keep the Finnish women in the game, helped by determined and at times desperate defending in depth.
     
However, the pressure told in the end, and Denmark got the reward for dominating the proceedings.
      The goal actually forced a hitherto passive Finnish attack onto the front foot, and they began to exert some pressure in the last quarter of the match, but not enough to snatch a vital equaliser.
     
The Finnish women's national team has already gone places where the men have feared to tread, getting into the final four at last year's European Championships in England, where they incidentally upset the Danes to go through to the semi-finals.
      A brave 2-1 victory over Denmark at home in August set up this last match: a draw would have seen the Finns qualify at the top of the table.
      Now, however, there is a sense that an era has come to an end: a good many of the more experienced players are of an age where the prospect of the next European Championships in 2009 seems an overly long way away, even though the games will be hosted by Finland.
     
The team's head coach Michael Käld naturally expressed disappointment at coming so close to the big prize only to have it snatched away. During his time at the helm, the team has raised the profile and credibility of the sport to unprecedented levels.
      Wednesday's game was played in front of a near-capacity audience of 9,337, a measure of the support now enjoyed by women's football.
      Finland eventually finished runners-up in the group, ahead of Spain, Poland, and Belgium, with 16 points from their eight matches.


Links:
  UEFA: Denmark 1 Finland 0
  UEFA: Finland 2 Denmark 1

Helsingin Sanomat