MyPa take Finnish FA Cup with last-minute winner
FC Hämeenlinna suffer familiar fate
FC Hämeenlinna 1 MyPa 2
The Finnish football season wound to a close on Saturday with the Cup Final played in the Finnair Stadium in Helsinki.
The two finalists were FC Hämeenlinna, who were recently relegated from Finland’s premier league, and Myllykosken Pallo, or MyPa, who finished the season in mid-table but who disposed of the top three Veikkaus League teams on their way to the final, including handing out a 6-3 drubbing to League Champions FC Haka.
MyPa were therefore favourites to take the trophy in the 50th Cup Final, but as it happened things went right down to the wire. MyPa opened the scoring after 23 minutes when Saku Puhakainen ran into space and collected a ball from Niklas Tarvajärvi, slotting it calmly past the Hämeenlinna goalkeeper Tuomas Peltonen.
MyPa were good value for their lead, and without the alertness of Peltonen they could have had three or four more goals by half-time.
After the break, however, their game fell apart somewhat and they failed to keep possession as Hämeenlinna pushed their midfield forward and took control. It did not take long for an equaliser to come, with the final touch going to Mark Byrnes after MyPa goalie Janne Korhonen could only parry a sharp drive by Juska Savolainen.
Things stayed at 1-1 right down to the second minute of time added on for stoppages, when the MyPa central defender and captain Tuomas Aho happened to be in the right place at the right time to back-heel a shot from 18-year-old substitute Eetu Muinonen into the Hämeenlinna net. If Aho had not connected, the ball would have gone comfortably wide and extra time would have been required.
The result gave MyPa their 3rd cup title and a place in next season’s UEFA Cup draw, along with a cheque for EUR 25,000.
Under normal circumstances, the FA Cup is considered to be a soft option for a passage into European football, but considering that MyPa had to dispose of four league sides - three of them well above them in the final table - on their way to the trophy, they can regard it as a job well done.
For FC Hämeenlinna, going down to a late goal was all too familiar from the past season, where they finished bottom of the table. According to the quick post-match calculation of their coach, the side had lost 15 to 17 points through conceding goals in the last quarter of an hour, and at least five points through goals scored against them in stoppage time.
Also at the weekend, the Finnish Football Association announced its Player of the Year. The title went to Antti Niemi, the highly-regarded goalkeeper of Southampton and the national team. It was the first time in many years that the trophy had eluded the two stalwarts of Sami Hyypiä and Jari Litmanen.
The award for performance of the year went equally deservedly to the Finnish women’s squad, who secured themselves a berth at next year’s UEFA European Women’s Championships in England.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 1.11.2004 - TODAY |
 MyPa take Finnish FA Cup with last-minute winner |
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