Litmanen included in squad for World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Russia

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The British-born coach of Finland's national football team Stuart Baxter has added the name of veteran midfielder and captain Jari Litmanen to his squad for the upcoming 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan (home, 11th October) and Russia (Moscow, 15th October).
      Litmanen returned to action after illness on Sunday, when FC Lahti beat Haka 1-0 in the Finnish Veikkaus League. Litmanen came on as a substitute in the 65th minute.
     
"I wanted to see that Jari is fit to train and to play before making a decision. The last few days have shown that he is", said Baxter, who had earlier announced a squad without Litmanen's name.
      "Jari offers us some tactical alternatives, even if he is not yet in shape to play a full ninety minutes" added Baxter.
     
Litmanen's recovery from a serious bout of 'flu that kept him out of Finland's earlier 3-3 draw with Germany has gone according to plan.
      The 37-year-old former Ajax, Barcelona, and Liverpool player holds the record number of appearances in a Finnish shirt - 115 - and has scored 30 goals for his country.
      He last played for Finland in a friendly against Bulgaria in March.
     
Stuart Baxter initially named a squad of 19 players for the two games, as follows:
      Jussi Jääskeläinen, Bolton Wanderers
      Otto Fredrikson, LIlleström SK
      Veli Lampi, FC Zürich
      Petri Pasanen, Werder Bremen
      Toni Kuivasto, Djurgårdens IF
      Sami Hyypiä, Liverpool FC
      Hannu Tihinen, FC Zürich
      Niklas Moisander, AZ Alkmaar
      Toni Kallio, Fulham FC
      Joonas Kolkka, NAC Breda
      Markus Heikkinen, Rapid Wien
      Teemu Tainio, Sunderland AFC
      Roman Eremenko, Dynamo Kiev
      Mika Väyrynen, SC Heerenveen
      Daniel Sjölund, Djurgårdens IF
      Roni Porokara, Örebro SK
      Mikael Forssell, Hannover 96
      Berat Sadik, DSC Arminia Bielefeld
      Paulus Roiha, HJK
      Baxter was said to be monitoring closely the progress of Litmanen and also striker Jonatan Johansson, who is recovering from a leg injury. The names of Ari Nyman, Peter Enckelman, and Njazi Kuqi were also up for consideration as late additions to the squad.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ticket sales brisk for Finland vs. Azerbaijan: 16,000 sold (2.10.2008)

Links:
  Finland national football team (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat