Jump to content

Finland national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Todorov-FIN (talk | contribs) at 15:26, 12 January 2011 (fifa ranking). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Finland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Huuhkajat " Eagle-Owls"
AssociationFootball Association of Finland (Suomen Palloliitto, Finlands Bollförbund)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachMarkku Kanerva (caretaker)[1]
CaptainSami Hyypiä
Most capsJari Litmanen (137)
Top scorerJari Litmanen (32)
Home stadiumHelsinki Olympic Stadium
FIFA codeFIN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current79
Highest33 (March 2007)
Lowest87 (November 2010)
First international
Finland Finland 2–5 Sweden 
(Helsinki, Finland; 22 October 1911)
Biggest win
Finland Finland 10–2 Estonia 
(Helsinki, Finland; 11 August 1922) Finland Finland 8–0 San Marino 
(Helsinki, Finland; 17 November 2010)
Biggest defeat
 Germany 13–0 Finland Finland
(Leipzig, Germany; 1 September 1940)

The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland.

The Finnish national team has never qualified for a finals tournament of the World Cup or the European Championships, but has made four Olympic tournament appearances.

History

The Football Association of Finland was founded as early as 1907 and became a member of FIFA in 1908, despite the fact that at that time Finland was still an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire and didn't gain independence until 1917. Finland played its first international match on October 22, 1911, losing to neighboring Sweden 2–5 in Helsinki.

A fourth place finish at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm still arguably ranks as the country's best ever achievement in international football. Finland beat Italy and Russia in the first two rounds before losing to Great Britain in the semi-finals. In the bronze medal match they were beaten 0–9 by the Netherlands. According to the story, the Finns were under the impression that the match would be a day later, so they had gone out celebrating the night before the match, and as a consequence were easily beaten. Finland's star player Eino Soinio, aged only 17 at the time, was chosen to the all-star team of the tournament by Swedish paper Idrottsbladet.

Finland also took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but was beaten by Peru in the first round. The country sought qualification for the World Cup for the first time in the 1938 event, but failed to score a single point. The fortunes of the team didn't improve much in the 1950s or 1960s: they were never near qualification, and didn't achieve their first win until 1965. Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, but had to wait for its first win until 1978. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki saw the hosts crash to Austria in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial Nordic championship in 1952, 1964 and 1966.

The results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for Euro 1980 by just a point and for the 1986 World Cup by two points. Finland was invited to take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after many Western countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group.

By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high profile European leagues, led by the Ajax superstar Jari Litmanen. In 1996 Danish Euro 1992 winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen was hired to take Finland to the 1998 World Cup. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, high points of which were a draw and a win away to Norway and Switzerland respectively. Going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to Hungary to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1-0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, and once again the dreams of qualification were over. Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to Euro 2000. In this campaign the Finns recorded a sensational win away to Turkey, but couldn't compete with Germany and Turkey in the long run.

Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000. He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen. The team also performed quite well under him in qualification for the 2002 World Cup despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with England as well as beating Greece 5–1 in Helsinki. In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group, but were the only team in that group not to lose at home. Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal (which seen the Finns jump from 40th-30th in the Elo ranking[2]). However, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations). These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3-0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group. In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, but results didn't improve.

In August 2005 it was announced that Roy Hodgson would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.[3] His replacement was a Scot, Stuart Baxter, who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign.[4]

Finland was competing in Group A in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3-1 away and earning a 1-1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0-0 with the former and beating the latter 2-0. On 15 November 2006, Finland beat Armenia 1-0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying. In Finland's first match of 2007, they were in poor form when they lost against Azerbaijan 1-0, one of the worst matches in Finnish footballing history. On early June they lost to Serbia 2-0 at home, which many fans[who?] felt to be the end of a real battle for qualification. But the next match was against Belgium and team Finland gained the trust of their fans back by winning 2-0 at home. This was followed by a series of wins including a 2-1 win against Azerbaijan, with the team needing to win against Portugal away from home needing to qualify. However, the match ended 0-0 meaning the team missed out on qualification. At the end of the group table the defeat to Azerbaijan made little difference, as it would have meant Finland losing out on away goals between them and Portugal when the teams met if they did win against Azerbaijan twice. However, the performance in qualifying seen the Finns gain their best-ever FIFA world ranking to date at the position of 33rd.

2010 World cup qualification fared little better, with the team under new head coach Stuart Baxter not winning matches as consistently like they did under Roy Hodgson. However the team were within touching distance of a win over Euro 2008 finalists Germany, but had to settle for a 3-3 draw. The team again finished third in their group with five wins, three draws and two defeats. They were the only team in qualifying not to lose to eventual 3rd place finishers Germany, but came close to a win in the second meeting only to concede an equaliser in stoppage time.

Qualification for the European 2012 European Championship has so far been underwhelming, with three straight defeats against Moldova (2-0), the Netherlands and Hungary (both 2-1), before closing 2010 with an 8-0 success against minnows San Marino which saw Mikael Forssell the first player of the group to score a hat trick. Before their first win of the campaign, the team slipped to 87th in the FIFA World Rankings, despite still staying in the top 100 and therefore keeping up their consistency in the top half of the monthly table, this was however their lowest-ever position in their history since the rankings were established in 1993.

Stadiums

Most of Finland's important home matches are played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the capital Helsinki. It has been Finland's principal home stadium ever since its construction was completed in 1938. Before that Pallokenttä in Helsinki was mainly used.

Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the Ratina Stadion in Tampere. Helsinki's Finnair Stadium, which has artificial turf, is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers.

Nickname

Bubi at a football game

The team's Finnish nickname is "Huuhkajat" (Eagle owls). The name comes from Bubi, an eagle owl living in the tower of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. He made his first appearance in a football game in 2007 in a game between Finland and Belgium, helping Finland win 2-0. Bubi was named Helsinki's "Resident of the Year" in 2007 and to the surprise of the spectators, visited his own award ceremony on the stadium. [5] The name of the owl derives from the scientific name of the species (Bubo bubo) and the nickname of a Finnish sports commentator, Bror-Erik "Bubi" Wallenius.

World Cup record

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter - - - - - - -
Italy 1934 Did not enter - - - - - - -
France 1938 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Brazil 1950 Withdrew during qualifying - - - - - - -
Switzerland 1954 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Sweden 1958 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Chile 1962 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
England 1966 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Mexico 1970 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Argentina 1978 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Spain 1982 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Mexico 1986 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Italy 1990 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
United States 1994 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
France 1998 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
South KoreaJapan 2002 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Germany 2006 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Total 0/19 - - - - - - -

European Championship record

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E

Template:UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Friendlies

Belgium v Finland
TBA
Finland v Bolivia
TBA, Antalya
Portugal v Finland
Estádio Municipal de Aveiro
Latvia v Finland
TBA

Euro 2012 Qualifiers

Moldova 2 – 0 Finland
Suvorov 69'
Doroş 74'
Attendance: 10,500
Netherlands 2 – 1 Finland
Huntelaar 7', 16' (pen.) Forssell 18'
Attendance: 27,500
Finland 1 – 2 Hungary
Forssell 88' Szalai 50'
Dzsudzsák 90+4'
Attendance: 18,532
Finland 8 – 0 San Marino
Väyrynen 39'
Hämäläinen 49', 67'
Forssell 51', 59', 78'
Litmanen 71' (pen.)
Porokara 73'
Attendance: 8,192
San Marino v Finland
Sweden v Finland
Finland v Moldova
Finland v Netherlands
Finland v Sweden
Hungary v Finland


Current squad

Selections for the matches against San Marino on 17th November 2010.[6] Caps and goals as of 17 November 2010.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Otto Fredrikson (1981-11-30) 30 November 1981 (age 42) 10 0 Russia Spartak Nalchik
12 1GK Jukka Lehtovaara (1988-03-15) 15 March 1988 (age 36) 1 0 Finland TPS
1GK Lukas Hradecky (1989-11-24) 24 November 1989 (age 34) 1 0 Denmark Esbjerg
2 2DF Petri Pasanen (1980-09-24) 24 September 1980 (age 43) 62 1 Germany Werder Bremen
3 2DF Niklas Moisander (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 (age 38) 16 1 Netherlands AZ
5 2DF Veli Lampi (1984-06-18) 18 June 1984 (age 40) 22 0 Netherlands Willem II
13 2DF Joona Toivio (1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 36) 0 0 Sweden Djurgården
23 2DF Markus Heikkinen (1978-10-13) 13 October 1978 (age 45) 57 0 Austria Rapid Wien
2DF Juhani Ojala (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 (age 35) 0 0 Finland HJK
2DF Jukka Raitala (1988-09-15) 15 September 1988 (age 35) 2 0 Germany Paderborn 07
6 3MF Mika Väyrynen (1981-12-28) 28 December 1981 (age 42) 48 5 Netherlands Heerenveen
7 3MF Roman Eremenko (1987-03-19) 19 March 1987 (age 37) 32 1 Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv
14 3MF Tim Sparv (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987 (age 37) 12 0 Netherlands Groningen
15 3MF Daniel Sjölund (1983-04-22) 22 April 1983 (age 41) 26 2 Sweden Djurgården
17 3MF Roni Porokara (1983-12-12) 12 December 1983 (age 40) 18 4 Belgium Germinal Beerschot
20 3MF Alexei Eremenko (1983-03-27) 27 March 1983 (age 41) 48 13 Scotland Kilmarnock
21 3MF Kasper Hämäläinen (1986-08-08) 8 August 1986 (age 37) 11 2 Sweden Djurgården
9 4FW Mikael Forssell (1981-03-15) 15 March 1981 (age 43) 72 24 Germany Hannover 96
10 4FW Jari Litmanen (1971-02-20) 20 February 1971 (age 53) 137 32 Finland Lahti
18 4FW Shefki Kuqi (1976-11-10) 10 November 1976 (age 47) 62 7 England Derby County

Recent callups

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
22 1GK Jussi Jääskeläinen (1975-04-19) 19 April 1975 (age 49) 56 0 England Bolton Wanderers
1GK Peter Enckelman* (1977-03-10) 10 March 1977 (age 47) 12 0 Scotland St. Johnstone
12 1GK Niki Mäenpää (1985-01-23) 23 January 1985 (age 39) 4 0 Netherlands Willem II
1GK Janne Korhonen (1979-11-28) 28 November 1979 (age 44) 0 0 Finland JJK
1GK Anssi Jaakkola (1987-03-13) 13 March 1987 (age 37) 0 0 Scotland Kilmarnock
2DF Miika Koppinen (1978-07-05) 5 July 1978 (age 46) 18 0 Norway Tromsø
4 2DF Sami Hyypiä (1973-10-07) 7 October 1973 (age 50) 105 5 Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2DF Ari Nyman (1984-02-07) 7 February 1984 (age 40) 22 0 Finland Inter Turku
19 2DF Joni Aho (1986-04-12) 12 April 1986 (age 38) 1 0 Finland Inter Turku
14 2DF Hannu Patronen (1984-05-23) 23 May 1984 (age 40) 5 0 Sweden Helsingborg
20 2DF Paulus Arajuuri (1988-06-15) 15 June 1988 (age 36) 1 0 Sweden Kalmar
2DF Jonas Portin (1986-09-30) 30 September 1986 (age 37) 0 0 Italy Padova
2DF Jani Lyyski (1983-03-16) 16 March 1983 (age 41) 3 0 Sweden Djurgården
5 2DF Markus Halsti (1984-03-19) 19 March 1984 (age 40) 3 0 Sweden Malmö
2DF Ville Jalasto (1986-04-19) 19 April 1986 (age 38) 1 0 Norway Aalesund
2DF Tuomo Turunen (1987-08-30) 30 August 1987 (age 36) 2 0 Sweden Trelleborg
2DF Kalle Parviainen (1982-10-03) 3 October 1982 (age 41) 1 0 Finland Haka
11 3MF Joonas Kolkka (1974-09-28) 28 September 1974 (age 49) 98 11 Netherlands NAC
17 3MF Sebastian Sorsa (1984-01-25) 25 January 1984 (age 40) 1 0 Finland HJK
18 3MF Mika Ojala (1988-06-21) 21 June 1988 (age 36) 1 0 Finland Inter Turku
15 3MF Juska Savolainen (1983-09-01) 1 September 1983 (age 40) 2 0 Norway Haugesund
3MF Mehmet Hetemaj (1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 (age 36) 2 0 Italy AlbinoLeffe
3MF Perparim Hetemaj (1986-12-12) 12 December 1986 (age 37) 2 0 Italy Brescia
3MF Mika Ääritalo (1985-07-25) 25 July 1985 (age 38) 1 0 Finland TPS
3MF Joel Perovuo (1985-08-11) 11 August 1985 (age 38) 2 0 Sweden Djurgården
8 3MF Teemu Tainio (1979-11-27) 27 November 1979 (age 44) 52 6 Netherlands Ajax
4FW Teemu Pukki (1990-03-29) 29 March 1990 (age 34) 3 0 Finland HJK
4FW Paulus Roiha (1980-08-03) 3 August 1980 (age 43) 20 4 Sweden Åtvidaberg
4FW Berat Sadik (1986-09-14) 14 September 1986 (age 37) 4 0 Finland Lahti
4FW Niklas Tarvajärvi (1983-03-13) 13 March 1983 (age 41) 4 0 Germany Karlsruhe
4FW Hermanni Vuorinen (1985-01-27) 27 January 1985 (age 39) 1 0 Belgium Charleroi
11 4FW Timo Furuholm (1987-08-11) 11 August 1987 (age 36) 1 0 Finland Inter Turku
4FW Juho Mäkelä (1983-06-23) 23 June 1983 (age 41) 8 0 Australia Sydney FC
16 4FW Jonatan Johansson (1975-08-16) 16 August 1975 (age 48) 105 22 Finland TPS

Coaching staff

Player records

Most capped players

Rank Name Career Caps Goals
1 Jari Litmanen 1989- 137 32
2 Sami Hyypiä 1992- 105 5
3 Jonatan Johansson 1996- 105 22
4 Ari Hjelm 1983-96 100 20
5 Joonas Kolkka 1994- 98 11
6 Erkka Petäjä 1983-94 83 0
7 Arto Tolsa 1964-81 76 10
8 Hannu Tihinen 1997-2010 76 5
9 Toni Kuivasto 1997- 75 1
10 Mikael Forssell 1999- 72 24

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Career Goals Caps
1 Jari Litmanen 1989- 32 137
2 Mikael Forssell 1999- 24 72
3 Jonatan Johansson 1996- 22 105
4 Ari Hjelm 1983-96 20 100
5 Mika-Matti Paatelainen 1986-2000 18 70
6 Verner Eklöf 1919-27 17 32
7 Aulis Koponen 1924-35 16 39
= Gunnar Åström 1923-37 16 44
9 Jorma Vaihela 1947-54 13 33
= Alexei Eremenko 2003- 13 48
= William Kanerva 1922-38 13 51
  • Correct as of 17 November 2010
  • Players who are still active and available for selection are in bold

Managers

Coach Nat Tenure Matches Wins Draws Losses Win %
None 1911–1921 17 6 2 9 35.3
Jarl Öhman Finland 1922 4 1 0 3 25.0
None 1923–1935 77 22 12 43 28.6
Ferdinand Fabra Germany 1936–1937 8 1 1 6 12.5
None 1937–1938 9 3 0 6 33.3
Gábor Obitz Hungary 1939 6 1 0 5 16.7
None 1939–1943 7 0 1 6 0.0
Axel Mårtensson Sweden 1945 2 0 0 2 0.0
Niilo Tammisalo Finland 1946 3 0 0 3 0.0
Aatos Lehtonen Finland 1947–1955 51 7 9 35 13.7
Kurt Weinreich Germany 1955–1958 23 3 1 19 13.0
Aatos Lehtonen Finland 1959–1961 19 3 0 16 15.8
Olavi Laaksonen Finland 1962–1974 91 16 21 54 17.6
Martti Kosma Finland 1975 2 0 1 1 0.0
Aulis Rytkönen Finland 1975–1978 30 8 4 18 26.7
Esko Malm Finland 1979–1981 27 4 6 17 14.8
Martti Kuusela Finland 1982–1987 53 9 11 33 17.0
Jukka Vakkila Finland 1988–1992 48 7 21 20 14.6
Tommy Lindholm Finland 1993–1994 25 5 7 13 20.0
Jukka Ikäläinen Finland 1994–1996 21 7 4 10 33.3
Richard Møller Nielsen Denmark 1996–1999 34 9 12 13 26.5
Antti Muurinen Finland 2000–2005 72 34 12 26 47.2
Jyrki Heliskoski Finland 2005 6 2 2 2 33.3
Roy Hodgson England 2006–2007 22 6 11 5 27.3
Stuart Baxter Scotland 2008-2010 31 8 6 17 25.8
Olli Huttunen Finland 2010 1 1 0 0 100
  • Correct as of 17 November 2010

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=179286
  2. ^ a b c "World Football Elo Ratings: Finland". World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  3. ^ Hodgson to return for Inter role BBC Sport, 1 December 2007
  4. ^ Suomen Palloliitto - Etusivu Template:Fi icon
  5. ^ Palkittu Bubi käväisi yllättäen palkitsemistilaisuudessa HS.fi - Kaupunki
  6. ^ [1] Template:Fi icon

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Finland_national_football_team&oldid=407483570"