Honka rely on short passing game and twin strikers for Santander test

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FC Honka of Espoo are the last Finnish side in European competition this season, and tonight they face Racing Santander of Spain in a crucial UEFA Cup 1st Round fixture in the Finnair Stadium.
      Honka go into the game on a high in the domestic league, where they are lying 2nd, but with a 1-0 disadvantage from the first leg in Spain two weeks ago.
      The Espoo side’s coach Mika Lehkosuo revealed on Wednesday that he would be putting the striker duo of Hermanni Vuorinen and Aleksander Kokko in his starting line-up tonight. In the first leg, Vuorinen started and league top-scorer Kokko replaced him ten minutes before full-time.
     
Honka’s task is quite clear: they must keep a clean sheet and score a couple.
      If the Spaniards can grab an away goal, the prospects of Honka scoring three times to progress seem somewhat thin.
      Honka are something of an exception in Finnish football, as their game revolves around quick breaks, short passing, and keeping the ball on the deck. If they can succeed in this as well as they have on many occasions in the Veikkaus League this season, they might just be able to spring an upset against opposition who will probably not relish the chilly wet conditions that are in prospect.
     
Racing Santander have not made a particularly auspicious start to their season in La Liga.
      After five games they are still without a win, although four of their opening fixtures were against tough top-of-the-table opposition like Real Madrid, Villareal, and Barcelona.
      The match in the Finnair Stadium promises to be well attended, not least because the match is not being televised in Finland.
     
If Honka do manage to overcome Racing, then the lucrative vista of the UEFA Cup group stages will open up to them.
      Win or lose, they will face another crunch game in a few days' time, when they meet league leaders FC Inter of Turku away on Sunday. The outcome of that match may well determine who wins this year's Finnish title. Both clubs have 49 points, and an 8-point cushion to third-placed HJK Helsinki, with just three games left in the Veikkaus League programme.
     
     
FC Honka - Real Racing Club de Santander, Finnair Stadium. Kick-off at 19:30.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  FC Honka dodge a bullet in Spain, but still have plenty to do (19.9.2008)

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