Forssell hat-trick crowns a much better Finnish performance

Finland put five past Macedonia, and strikers march past press

Jyrki Heliskoski

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Finland's footballers, stung by some less than enthusiastic reviews for their goalless draw against Andorra, returned to something like form last night, beating Macedonia 5-1 in Tampere.
      Although this was a much better all-round team performance, even with a number of familiar faces missing, the headlines will naturally be taken by Mikael Forssell, who ended a year-long goal drought in the best possible fashion: he scored a hat-trick.
      To be fair, the fact that Forssell had not found the net in nearly a year is attributable in great part to a long layoff through injury that ruined much of his last season. But a striker feeds on goals, and Forssell was looking very short of a meal. His last goal was against Armenia in the away fixture last September.
     
He certainly made amends this time, scoring two in the first fifteen minutes, and both were well-taken affairs. Against Andorra, Forssell and his strike partner Alexei Eremenko had both had shockers, with the young Eremenko's work-rate and passing being particularly below par.
      On Wednesday, Eremenko was a different player, and he gave string of sharp and well-flighted passes to open up the Macedonian defence. He got his reward, too, helping himself to a second-half goal to make it 4-1.
      Hannu Tihinen, leading the defence in the absence of Sami Hyypiä through flu, got the third with a header just before half-time, and Forssell wrapped things up with a crisp left-footed drive in the 62nd minute. The sole Macedonian reply came from Goran Maznov just after the break.
     
Jari Litmanen was again absent through injury, and coach Jyrki Heliskoski elected to play Aki Riihilahti - normally a defensive midfield workhorse - in the Litmanen role just behind the strikers. He clearly enjoyed himself in this position, and selflessly set up Forssell for his second goal.
      Forssell and Eremenko obviously considered that they had made their point with their feet during the 90 minutes, as they marched briskly past the press corps after the match without saying a word.
      Heliskoski, who had joined in the brickbats against the pair (who also managed to miss their flight back from Barcelona), was all smiles and expressed his delight at a much fresher and more active show from the Finns.
     
It is to be hoped that the curve continues to head upwards, as the Finnish players have two rather tougher matches in prospect next month: the World Cup qualifying campaign ends with home fixtures against Romania and the Czech Republic.
      Although all chances, even the most mathematical, of qualifying for Germany 2006 have gone, two wins in October could lift Finland over Romania into 3rd spot in Group 1.
      This would be valuable not merely as a morale-booster for the team and its incoming head coach Roy Hodgson, but would also put the Finns into a better basket of teams when the draw is made for the 2008 European Championships.
      Hodgson and others will be hoping and praying that Finland get at least a half-decent group: in past years Lady Luck has not been overly kind to them.
      Both the last two matches will be played in Helsinki, and the Football Association will naturally be looking forward to larger crowds than the 6,000 or so who turned up in Tampere.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Strikers cannot find goal, cannot find flight home either (5.9.2005)
  Finland dispose of Macedonia 3-0 (18.8.2005)

Links:
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