The Finnish men’s national football team will appear for the first time in history in a major final tournament this summer, waiting more than 80 years to reach either the World Cup or the European Championships.
The Owls, or the Kotka Owls, have been drawn to play against Denmark, Russia and Belgium in Euro2020 Group B. The top two teams will advance to the knockout stages automatically, but Finland can also advance to third place in the group if their record is better than at least two other third-placed teams out of five. from the other block.
Eagle-Owls will start their campaign against Denmark at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Saturday 12 June. The game starts at 7 pm Finnish time and will be shown live on both Yle TV2 and Yle Areena.
The team will then travel to St. Petersburg to play Russia on Wednesday, June 16 (start at 4pm Finnish time) and stay in the city against Belgium for their last block match on Monday, June 22nd, with a start time of 10pm. Through the arena.
“Oh Finland on”
The Danish authorities have decided that a third of the capacity at Parken Stadium can be used for Saturday’s game, and a few hundred supporters are planning a trip from Finland to Copenhagen to watch the team’s debut album.
Despite their relatively small number, the traveling crowd will no doubt sing a lot of songs with the terrace favorite. Oh Finland on (‘Oh Finland is’) gets more than a few performances.
The article continues after the picture.
File image of Finnish football supporters in a national team game in 2020.
Photo: Tomi Hänninen
Before the game, Yle collected a short video of fan video clips singing a song that can be viewed from the video at the top of the article.
This week’s All Points North podcast episode featured a husband and wife interview Noor and Hanna Jamalwho travel to participate in the game.
“This is something I wouldn’t want from anything,” Hanna Jamal told APN. “I would do anything to get there and experience the moment I’ve personally been waiting for my whole life.”
The story continues after the sound.
Voice: Yle News
Key players and quiet trust
The Finnish team has made rapid progress in recent years under the leadership of a former international player Markku Kanerva.
Finland’s key players are the talisman striker Teemu Pukki, has just secured entry to the English Premier League with his club Norwich City, midfield lynchpin Glen Chamber, fresh to celebrate the Scottish League with Glasgow Rangers and goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký, who was chosen Finnish Athlete of the Year in January.
Finland was in the first class C2 group of the League of Nations in 2018-19 with several great performances, such as home victories from Hungary, Greece and Estonia.
The article continues after the picture.
Finland’s main goal is probably Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki.
Photo: Jussi Nukari Lehtikuva
This was followed Owls defeated Liechtenstein 3-0 in November 2019 and placed second after Italy in Group J and secured a historic first qualifier.
The team again placed second, this time in Wales, in the 2020 Nations League Group 4 with an impressive campaign that included wins at home and away against both Bulgaria and the Republic of Ireland.
While recent friendly losses against Sweden (2-0) and Estonia (1-0) have cast a shadow over the team’s preparations for the tournament, Kanerva’s men are approaching their first game against Denmark with calm confidence.
Expectations are low, most experts believe that Finland will not get past the group stages, but the close team knows that it has already made history and now has three games to surprise the world.