World Cup Qualification UEFA Group 4: Finland 2 Wales 1

Young players respond to call-up with a pair of goals

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By William Moore
     
      Thanks to goals from winger Roni Porokara and left-back Niklas Moisander, Finland beat Wales 2-1 on Saturday evening in a World Cup qualifier in front of a less than half-full Olympic Stadium crowd.
      The poor attendance of barely 13,000 for Finland's last home game in UEFA Group 4 was partly attributable to the fact that the match had no significance with regard to Finland's World Cup 2010 qualification hopes - they went south some time ago.
      Defeat to Wales might, however, have caused the hosts to slip to 4th place in the group, and might also have been a bridge too far for both the fans and the Finnish FA, coming on the back of a 3-0 drubbing by Russia, a scrappy win away against Azerbaijan, and most recently a humiliating draw in Liechtenstein.
     
Hence there was an element of tension in the air before the kick-off, with coach Stuart Baxter feeling pressure both to deliver a result and to introduce a few new faces into a team that is undoubtedly showing its age.
      Finland last faced Wales in the Olympic Stadium in 2004 and were beaten 2-0, and the Welsh also had a score to settle after being upset by the same margin when the two teams met in Cardiff in March.
      Baxter went with a mixture of experience and youth and handed starts to Tim Sparv (22) and to Porokara (24) and Moisander (25), and in the end it looked to have paid off quite nicely.
      The younger players in the squad gave a hint that there might after all be life after Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä (and a few others) retire from international duty.
     
More important than the fact that they got on the scoresheet was the overall showing by both Porokara and Moisander, who did not look at all out of place in the side. Sparv, too, fitted in well at the back of the midfield, and 23-year-old Kasper Hämäläinen, brought on as a substitute for Joonas Kolkka after 67 minutes, also got some valuable first-team experience.
     
Finland made the best possible start, going ahead after five minutes when Roman Eremenko released Jonatan Johansson on the right hand edge of the box.
      Johansson got a shot off, but it rebounded from Welsh keeper Wayne Hennessey. Porokara was in the right place to sweep it home unchallenged from 12 yards.
      The hosts then failed to press home their advantage and Wales got back into the game just over ten minutes later.
     
The visitors' captain Craig Bellamy had already given one warning of his intentions, and on 17 minutes he got on the end of a good cross from the left by David Vaughan, sliding the ball into the net past Jussi Jääskeläinen.
      The Finnish defenders were nowhere to be seen.
      The home fans on the North Bank were furious at the equaliser. To put it mildly, they do not have a great deal of time for Bellamy, following his somewhat undiplomatic remarks - about the Finnish team in general and Johansson in particular - after the match in Cardiff in March.
      Every time Bellamy touched the ball he was roundly booed and taunted with an oft-repeated chant in English that called his sexual orientation into question.
     
Honours were more or less even for the remainder of the first half, with the Welsh contenting themselves mainly with trying to get something on the break.
      Tim Sparv had an effort from 30 yards comfortably saved by Hennessey, and that man Bellamy occasionally posed a threat to the hosts.
     
The Finns were appreciably better in the second half, which began with an odd incident that may cause problems for both teams.
      Hannu Tihinen clattered into Craig Bellamy rather late and was booked, though the Serbian referee did not award a free-kick. Bellamy protested vigorously and also saw a yellow card.
      Both players will now be unavailable for the final match of the campaign. In fact Wales could have serious problems for their last game in Liechtenstein, as Hennessey is also out (booked in the 72nd minute for protesting a corner) and they had injury troubles aplenty before this fixture - coach John Toshack only named four substitutes including a reserve goalkeeper.
     
The hosts created several chances and won a string of corners before a nice ball from Porokara found an overlapping Moisander in acres of space on the left after 77 minutes.
      The defender cut in sharply, nutmegged James Collins in fine style, and toe-poked the ball from a narrow angle past the keeper and the outstretched leg of Gareth Bale on the line.
      A few minutes later Kasper Hämäläinen could have made it 3-1, but for a fingertip save from Hennessey.
      The Finns nearly managed to gift Wales a trademark Keystone Cops equaliser in the last few minutes, but Jääskeläinen came out smartly to stop David Edwards and guarantee the three points.
     
Coach Stuart Baxter was well pleased with how the new-look side had acquitted themselves, although he pointed to rather too many occasions where players were caught in possession.
      He also praised the youngsters' performance.
      "Niklas [Moisander] has been a bit nervous in his earlier appearances, but now he stepped up a class. Roni was a constant threat to the opposition, and took on Jonatan Johansson's role of cutting in from the flanks. And Tim Sparv, well, actually he had a great game. He and Roman Eremenko dominated the midfield, even though they were up against some quite decent players."
      "All in all it was a good evening for Finnish football. Three points, third place in the group, some progress made, and valuable international experience for some of the youngsters. And the more experienced players supported them extremely well. A fine evening", said Baxter.
     
On the subject of whether he might not have tried some younger faces in the two undistinguished earlier games in Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein, Baxter was adamant that the conditions were not right for it then, and that he had not wanted to dent their confidence with a disastrous first-night.
      "This match was the proper place to bring them through. And anyhow, one fine day does not a summer make. They will have to keep working hard and developing, and hopefully we can build for the future from this", Baxter responded.
     
He will ín any case be obliged to include some youth in the side to play Germany next Wednesday, too, as not only Hannu Tihinen but also Petri Pasanen will be ineligible for the visit to Germany. Pasanen picked up a card five minutes before the end of the game.
      This means a partner will have to be found to play alongside Sami Hyypiä at the back. Pasanen's obvious replacement is Veli Lampi, but normally in the absence of either Tihinen or Hyypiä it is Pasanen who has gone into the middle of the back four.
      It remains to be seen what sort of formation is conjured up for the Germany game. It could be the final curtain-call for Hyypiä (now on 102 caps), the old soldier Jari Litmanen (128 caps and 31 goals), and Johansson, who if selected will be making his 100th appearance in a Finnish shirt.
     
The Germans will be playing for not much more than their honour in Hamburg on Wednesday, since they sprang a surprise in Moscow on Saturday night and took a 1-0 victory over Russia that ensured they will win the group and qualify automatically for South Africa.
      The German coach Joachim Löw has already announced he will be resting some of his players and giving some youngsters a chance to show their stuff against Finland and in friendlies against Chile and Egypt in November.
      Russia go to the play-offs, regardless of the result of their match against Azerbaijan in Baku.
      The Finns are third, come what may, and Wales will finish 4th, even if they slip up against the mighty men of Liechtenstein like Finland did.
     
That hapless 1-1 draw in Vaduz in September really rankled, by the way.
      Aside from attempting to wind up Craig Bellamy, the hardcore supporters belonging to Suomen Maajoukkueen Kannattajat (SMJK) in Blocks 52 and 53 on the North Bank clearly had a message to send to the Finnish team, the coaching staff, and the Finnish FA.
     
They sat(!!) in silent protest for the first ten minutes, although they did celebrate the Finnish goal, and when they eventually broke into voice it coincided with the rolling out of a large tifo containing the words "Kaikesta huolimatta me olemme aina täällä" ("In spite of it all, we're always here").
      The Finnish FA came in for some fairly lively and quite unprintable abuse, but the fans stopped short of actually calling for anyone's head, unless of course the chants of "Sauli Niinistö" - the Speaker of Parliament and front-running candidate for the Presidency of the FA - were to be interpreted as criticism of the outgoing Pekka Hämäläinen, who will retire in November.
      The earlier songs about travelling to South Africa with Baxter's men were mercifully absent this time, but as usual the bringing on of the ever-popular Kosovo-born Shefki Kuqi was vociferously demanded.
      Stuart Baxter eventually obliged with three minutes of normal time remaining.
     
Something HAS happened in the five years since 2004.
      Then the travelling Welsh contingent outsang the Finns quite as much as their team outplayed them.
      This time, however, once the home fans had held their demonstration, they made a reasonable amount of noise - especially considering the game was really of little meaning.
      They deserve a decent draw and some decent performances in the next European Championship qualifiers, which will start next autumn. The draw takes place in Poland in February.
     

Finland 2 Wales 1 (1-1)
     
Goalscorers: 5. Roni Porokara (1-0); 17. Craig Bellamy (1-1); 77. Niklas Moisander (2-1)
     
Finland: Jussi Jääskeläinen; Petri Pasanen (booked, 86.), Hannu Tihinen (booked, 49.), Sami Hyypiä (captain), Niklas Moisander; Tim Sparv; Joonas Kolkka (67. Kasper Hämäläinen), Roman Eremenko, Roni Porokara; Jari Litmanen (90+2. Alexei Eremenko Jr.); Jonatan Johansson (88. Shefki Kuqi).
Coach: Stuart Baxter
     
Wales : Wayne Hennessey (booked, 72.); Chris Gunter, Ashley Williams, James Collins, Lewin Nyatanga (83. Neal Erdley), Gareth Bale; David Edwards, Aaron Ramsey, David Vaughan; Craig Bellamy (captain, booked, 49.), Simon Church (63. Sam Vokes).
Coach: John Toshack
     
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
Attendance: 13,301 (not half-full)
Weather: Clear and bright, but chilly when the sun went down behind the West Stand.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Liechtenstein 1 Finland 1: Not with a bang...(10.9.2009)
  Defenders spare Finnish blushes against Azerbaijan (7.9.2009)
  TIMEOUT: Change of generation in prospect after Russian knockout (16.6.2009)

Links:
  Finnish national football team (Wikipedia)
  World Cup 2010 Qualification: UEFA Group 4 (Wikipedia)
  FIFA

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