"Winning ugly": Finland 3 Armenia 1 (World Cup UEFA Qualification Group 1)

Kuqi and Eremenko Jr. supply the goals that count

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By William Moore in Tampere
     
      Not so very long ago, Finland’s national football team could be relied upon to play out of their skins for 45 minutes or more and still end up losing narrowly or drawing with their betters.
      In Tampere on Saturday, they played well below their abilities against only mediocre opposition, but they emerged with a 3-1 win that takes them to nine points from four matches and puts them, mathematically at least, at the top of their World Cup qualifying group. It was also their third World Cup victory in succession, a new record.
      "Winning ugly" as the team did against Armenia is progress of a sort - particularly on a day when fancied "classy" teams stumbled. Holland could only draw 2-2 against Macedonia, Portugal could not overcome lowly Liechtenstein, and Slovenia dumped the mighty Italian Azzurri 1-0.
      It should also be remembered that the Finns were without Birmingham and Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell (out for the duration with a serious knee injury) and were also missing their talismanic captain Jari Litmanen, who was unable to take part in training on Friday with a cramped thigh muscle.
     
Forssell’s absence up front was a source of concern before the game, but the goals on Saturday still came from the strikers: Ipswich Town’s Shefki Kuqi, making his first Finland appearance since a friendly against Malta in March, collected a brace, and youngster Alexei Eremenko Jr. continued his remarkable run of form with his fifth goal in four successive World Cup qualifying appearances.
      Eremenko has now scored seven goals in 11 matches in a Finnish shirt.
     
In chilly but bright conditions, the Finns got an early break after eight minutes when a hopeful long ball found Eremenko around 15 metres out, on the right-hand edge of the box. His shot was deflected by an Armenian defender and Kuqi galloped in bravely to slide the ball over the line from close range as the Armenian captain Harutyun Vardanyan clattered into him from behind.
      The goal hardly galvanised the home side into action, but twenty minutes later Eremenko stepped up to take a free kick from just outside the penalty area on the left, and he hit the ball sweetly past Armen Ambartsumyan by the near post. It was almost a carbon-copy of the goal he scored against Andorra a month ago on the same ground.
      The Armenians came back within four minutes when a free-kick by Armen Shahgeldyan was deflected past Antti Niemi, the ball hitting central defender Sami Hyypiä on its way in. The set-piece was cannily taken in any case, with one Armenian standing in the defensive wall and then making a rapid exit to leave a crucial gap.
     
For most of the second half, the Finns made little headway against a bustling Armenian defence and while the hosts never really looked like conceding a second goal, it came as some relief when Kuqi, whose commitment and workrate was admirable throughout, struck a fierce shot from fully 20 metres and found the bottom right-hand corner.
      During the second period, it was Shefki Kuqi, the older of the two naturalised Finns in the team (he was born in Kosovo and emigrated here as a child, while Alexei Eremenko is the son of a successful Russian professional footballer who joined the Finnish leagues in 1991) who took the eye. It wasn't always pretty, but on occasions Kuqi showed deft touches that belied his reputation as a striker in the "hardworking carthorse" mould.
      One move in particular, in which he held up the ball midway inside the Armenian half before turning to deliver a lovely pin-point pass to the right wing, would not have looked out of place in Jari Litmanen’s playbook.
     
After the game, the mood among the Finnish team was buoyant, despite a general recognition that the three points had not come from a particularly inspired 90 minutes of football.
      Head Coach Antti Muurinen commented that the result is what counted, but he lamented the fact that the team largely surrendered the midfield.
      Surrendering something does nevertheless tend to imply that one actually held it at some earlier stage. However, from my vantage point (much better than usual, thanks to complimentary tickets from team sponsors Finland Post), at no stage did the Finns really get to grips with that section of the field.
      More often than not, attacks were built on the principle of a few sideways passes in the lower midfield, followed by a touch back to either Hyypiä or Toni Kuivasto, who then hoofed it 50 metres towards the head of Kuqi or Eremenko. Moments of fluid passing involving all sections of the team were few and far between.
     
The absence of a playmaker such as Litmanen was particularly noticeable going forwards, as players like Crystal Palace's Aki Riihilahti - who had another very solid game - are more suited to a defensive midfield role, tackling back and spoiling the opposition's efforts rather than creating openings for the Finnish front-men.
      At the back, Liverpool’s Sami Hyypiä, who again captained the side in Litmanen’s absence, was composure personified, and any fleeting worries that he might pick up a yellow card - and thus be ineligible for Wednesday’s match against Holland - were scotched by the fact that he was always in the right place at the right time.
      Hyypiä’s remarkable disciplinary record, at least for a central defender, is based very much on his seldom needing to go in late for a challenge. One must hope he will be able to repeat the performance against the slippery Dutch strikers on Wednesday.
      Kuivasto had to go off at the break with a dead leg, but the insertion of the energetic Teemu Tainio in his stead did little to fill the midfield vacuum. The reorganisation of the defensive line-up after Kuivasto’s departure was a more positive sign: Petri Pasanen looked quite comfortable alongside Hyypiä, and Antti Niemi did not have very much to do after the interval. Substitute Toni Kallio got a head to the only truly dangerous situation, just before Finland settled the match with the third goal.
      On the other hand, it might be interesting to count how many actual shots on target the Armenian goalkeeper had to deal with. Considering that he let three past him, he may not feel it was a very successful afternoon. The Finns did not exactly lay siege to his goalmouth.
     
All eyes now turn to Amsterdam and the encounter with the Dutch.
      It is perhaps unfortunate for Finland that Holland were held by Macedonia in Skopje. Any sense of complacency they might have had going into the match with the Finns will almost certainly have been removed by coach Marco van Basten yelling at them for giving up the lead twice, and they will be a meaner, hungrier side for this.
      If the Finns can collect even a draw from their visit, regardless of how they accomplish it, then there will be justified general jubilation.
     
Taking ten points from five games going into the winter break would also be a financial boost for the Finnish FA. It would ensure that next year’s important home matches against Holland (in June), the Czech Republic, and Romania (both in October) still have some real meaning in terms of qualification for Germany 2006.
      The Finns must also meet the Czechs in a tough game away in March, and Antti Muurinen will be hoping that the Armenians do his team a few favours in their next two matches, at home to both the Czech Republic and Romania. If these teams fail to do the business in Yerevan, then all talk of Finns “winning ugly” will take on a very different complexion.

More on this subject:
 Match Details

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland bring back three points from win in Jerevan (9.9.2004)

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