Ticket sales brisk for Finland vs. Azerbaijan: 16,000 sold

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Rather as expected, Finland’s 3-3 draw in a World Cup qualifier against Germany last month delivered more than just one point.
      For the Finnish FA at least, the result - and the exciting way in which it was achieved in front of a sell-out crowd in the Olympic Stadium - was the best possible advertisement for future home matches.
      Consequently it comes as little surprise that more than 16,000 tickets have been sold for Finland’s next home fixture, against Azerbaijan on Saturday October 11th.
     
In past campaigns, a match against relatively low-ranked and unfamiliar opposition such as this might have been played in the smaller Finnair Stadium (capacity: 13,000).
      When Finland played Azerbaijan at home in the last qualifying competition, for Euro 2008, the match was in fact in the Olympic Stadium, but attracted only just over 10,000 spectators.
      They were treated to a bit of a fright, as Finland had to recover from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.
     
The fans - and unless the weather is atrocious there should be at least 20,000 of them - will be expecting better things this time.
      Azerbaijan began their qualifying campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Wales in Cardiff, and followed this with a disappointing home draw to Group 4 minnows Liechtenstein.
      Four days after playing the Azeris, Finland travel to Moscow to face Russia in the last match before national teams take a winter break.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland 3 Germany 3 (2-2): A bitter-sweet draw against the Euro 2008 finalists (11.9.2008)

Links:
  UEFA World Cup 2010 Qualifying

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