Football Round-Up
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Three Finnish national teams were in action in friendly internationals on Wednesday evening.
The senior national squad, coming together in preparation for the restart of their 2010 World Cup qualification campaign, travelled to Faro on the Algarve for a practice match against Portugal.
It ended 1-0 to the hosts, thanks to a 78th-minute penalty from Christiano Ronaldo, after Petri Pasanen had up-ended Danny in the box.
Ronaldo slotted the ball past goalkeeper Niko Mäenpää, who had come on at half-time to replace first-choice keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen.
In the first half it was Jääskeläinen who managed to keep the score level as Portugal dominated, although the only time the ball was actually put into the net it was Finland who scored: Mikael Forssell's strike was ruled out for offside.
Coach Stuart Baxter went with experience in the end, although he had hinted about blooding some of the younger players in the squad.
As usual with these matches, there were wholesale changes after the interval, but even so the only young players to get an opportunity were Mäenpää in goal and Juha Hakola, who replaced Joonas Kolkka with ten minutes remaining. Hakola didn't manage to get a touch of the ball in the whole time he was on the field.
Finland will be in action again - this time with qualification points at stake - on March 28th, when they travel to Cardiff to meet Wales in a Group 4 match.
Finland are currently in 4th place in the group after three matches - a 3-3 draw at home to Germany, a 1-0 home win over Azerbaijan, and a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at the hands of Russia in Moscow.
The Finnish women's side were also in action somewhere warm on Wednesday. They played the second of a pair of internationals against England in Cyprus.
On Monday the same teams had fought out a 2-2 draw, but Wednesday saw the Finns crumble in the face of a deluge of three goals in as many minutes at the end of the first half.
The match ended 4-1, with Finland's only consolation goal coming ten minuters before time from Annika Sjölund.
The Finnish women were on a training camp in Cyprus in preparation for the finals of the European Championships, which will be held in Helsinki, Lahti, Tampere, and Turku in August and September. Finland as hosts are one of twelve teams vying for the title currently held by Germany, who have won four times in a row since 1995.
The only victory of the night was recorded by the men's Under-21 side, who met Estonia in a friendly in Espoo and came out 2-1 winners through goals from Akseli Pelvas and second-half substitute Jani Bäckman.
The match featured the younger generation of under-21 players, and could be seen as a screening session for the players who will be embarking on another round of qualifying matches for the European Championships in the autumn.
Coach Markku Kanerva also has responsibility for the "older" Under-21 side, who have already famously qualified for this year's European Championship finals in Sweden, where they will face a tough group-stage assignment against Spain, Germany and England.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 12.2.2009 - TODAY |
 Football Round-Up |
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