Suomi Finland

http://www.palloliitto.fi/84731-215004.jpeg

Head Coach: Roy Hodgson

Most Matches: Jari "Litti" Litmanen (106)

Most Goals: Jari "Litti" Litmanen (28)

FIFA Ranking ATM: 52

Federation: Suomen Palloliitto

Founded: 1907

FIFA Affiliation: 1908

UEFA Affiliation: 1954

Stadium: Olympiastadion

Capacity: 40682

The Finnish National Team has never taken part on the World Cup nor on the EURO Cup. This year will hopefully change it. The EURO Cup qualifying matches have been good for us. We're currently on the top of the table and hope to stay there and get to the tournament for the first time.:bouncy:

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5414/lohkotilanneeb0.png

EURO Cup Qualifying Matches:

Poland - Finland 1-3
Finland - Portugal 1-1
Armenia - Finland 0-0
Kazakhstan - Finland 0-2
Finland - Armenia 1-0
Azerbaijan - Finland 28/03/2007
Finland - Serbia 02/06/2007
Finland - Belgium 06/06/2007
Finland - Kazakhstan 22/08/2007
Serbia - Finland 08/09/2007
Finland - Poland 12/09/2007
Belgium - Finland 13/10/2007
Finland - Azerbaijan 17/11/2007
Portugal - Finland 21/11/2007

History:

First Match:

Finland - Sweden 2-5
Helsinki, Finland; 22/10/1911

Biggest Win:

Finland - Estonia 10-2
Helsinki, Finland; 11/08/1922

Biggest Defeat:

Germany - Finland 13-0
Leipzig, Germany; 01/09/1940

Greatest Achievement:
Fourth place on the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden 1912.

Players That Have Played On The Qualifiers:

Goalkeepers:

* Peter Enckelman (Blackburn Rovers)
* Jussi Jääskeläinen (Bolton Wanderers)
* Mikko Kavén (Tampere United)

Defenders

* Sami Hyypiä (Liverpool) (Assistant Captain)
* Toni Kallio (Molde)
* Toni Kuivasto (Djurgården)
* Ari Nyman (Inter Turku)
* Petri Pasanen (Werder Bremen)
* Hannu Tihinen (Zürich)
* Juha Pasoja (Ham-Kam)

Midfielders:

* Alexei Eremenko Jr. (Saturn)
* Markus Heikkinen (Luton Town)
* Jari Ilola (Elfsborg)
* Joonas Kolkka (Feyenoord)
* Peter Kopteff (Utrecht)
* Pekka Lagerblom (Köln)
* Jari Litmanen (Malmö) (Captain)
* Mika Nurmela (HJK)
* Aki Riihilahti (Kaiserslautern)
* Teemu Tainio (Tottenham Hotspur)
* Jarkko Wiss (Tampere United)
* Mika Väyrynen (PSV)

Forwards:

* Mikael Forssell (Birmingham City)
* Jonatan Johansson (Malmö)
* Shefki Kuqi (Crystal Palace)
* Daniel Sjölund (Djurgården)

http://www.palloliitto.fi/maajoukkueet/miesten_a-maajoukkue/11530-611844.jpeg

Jersey:

http://www.soccer.com/Images/Catalog/ProductImages/600/74120.JPG

Scotland - Finland 2-2

3. Jari Ilola 0-1
11. Shaun Maloney 1-1
65. Alan Gow 2-1
83. Juho Mäkelä 2-2

The Finnish National Team has never taken part on the World Cup nor on the EURO Cup. This year will hopefully change it. The EURO Cup qualifying matches have been good for us. We're currently on the top of the table and hope to stay there and get to the tournament for the first time.

Good luck for Finland NT. (Y)

It'll be a tough qualification for Finland. With Serbia still have a game in hand & other likely good teams (Portugal & Poland) to finish the top too...

Yet, Finland could finish second in my opinion to go through.

Best of luck !

Yep good luck from me too but i doubt you have a big chances to keep that 1-st place,even might not 2-nd. Sorry :(

It'd be cool to see you guys go through along with Serbia, good luck! :)

I hope you do it up to the finals. ;)
i'm crossing my fingers for you. U have 3 home games in a row to come, so if you win them all you will be even more likely to qualify.

The Finnish NT has just climbed up to 48 at the new FIFA ranking.
Thank you for your support guys!

I hope we'll see you in the Euro Cup 2008! I hope also my NT - Norway - be in Euro 2008! :)

I do hope Lokomotiv Moscow will buy Toni Kallio. He seems to be a solid central defender. That's exactly what we need.

Russian teams buys solid defenders from "norden" :D

Erik panzer Hagen and now Toni Kallio? :D

Yea, that trade has been talked about here for quite some time, but it hasn't been still made and I hope they can get to an understanding. I think it woul help his career. He's a great player.

I do hope Lokomotiv Moscow will buy Toni Kallio. He seems to be a solid central defender. That's exactly what we need.

Toni Kallio have signed for Young Boys!

mad a Suomi NT thread (H)! Good luck to you guys, hope you make it thru along with us [Poland] (Y)










Oh btw, we will pwn you in Helsinki for that 3 - 1 opening defeat... :jambo:

Well, we'll have to see about that and I doubt that. I hope that you get through with us too.

The Finnish NT played yesterday against AC Siena as a part of their plan.
It finished 1-1, with Jarkko Wiss scoring our only goal.

The team at the match:
Ville Iiskola (73. Tomi Maanoja)
Ville Jalasto (60. Toni Järvinen)
Jarkko Wiss
Janne Hietanen
Iiro Aalto (73. Ville Taulo)
Jussi Kujala (60. Sebastian Sorsa)
Keijo Huusko (73. Berat Sadiki)
Fredrik Nordback (73. Tim Sparv)
Tuomas Kansikas
Peter Sjölund (60. Henri Scheweleff)
Roni Porokara.

The Finnish NT has gained 15 places on the new FIFA ranking. MAD! We're now 33rd. Only Panama gained more places with their rise from 74th to 54th.

The team for the NT's training camp at Wienna:

Jussi Jääskeläinen, Bolton Wanderers FC
Peter Enckelman, Blackburn Rovers FC
Niki Mäenpää, FC Den Bosch
Petri Pasanen, Werder Bremen
Sami Hyypiä, Liverpool FC
Hannu Tihinen, FC Zürich
Toni Kallio, Young Boys
Toni Kuivasto, Djurgårdens IF
Joonas Kolkka, Feyenoord
Jari Ilola, IF Elfsborg
Markus Heikkinen, Luton Town
Mika Väyrynen, PSV Eindhoven
Peter Kopteff, FC Utrecht
Alexei Eremenko jr, FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast
Jari Litmanen, Malmö FF
Jonatan Johansson, Malmö FF
Shefki Kuqi, Crystal Palace
Mikael Forssell, Birmingham City FC
Jarkko Wiss, Tampere United
Mika Nurmela, HJK
Teemu Tainio, Tottenham Hotspur FC
Ari Nyman, FC Thun
Veli Lampi, FC Zürich
Roni Porokara, FC Honka
Iiro Aalto, HJK
Roman Eremenko, AC Siena

Are Finland better then Norway now? :confused:

I'm not sure, I didn't notice Norway on that list. There was maybe 20 best and the EURO qualifying Group's teams.

Thank you Kazakhstan! Now only Poland is ahead of us by 2 points, and they have played 1 match more than us. If we win wednesday, we'll be back at the top. :)

Are Finland better then Norway now? :confused:

perhaps...the losing from Bosnia-Herzegovina was a big blow for Norway.

Damn it! Finland just lost to Adjerbaidzan 1-0. This ain't any good for the future of our qualification...

Thank you Azerbaijan. (H) :bouncy: :mexican:

The field was awful, very bumpy. They played solid and used their chance. You're now going to win the group I think (Poland). I jus thope we can take the second place at least.

There's still a lot of football to be played... Poland's looks so far ahead right now because they've played 1 more game than the rest, they also have their hardest games ahead of them away to Portugal, Finland, and Serbia. Belgium can also still be a pain in the ass and take points.

I think this group will be close right up until the final qualification day :(

The Finnish National Team will play a celebration match of the National Team's 100th year against Spain, October the 17th at the Finnish Olypic Stadium in Helsinki.
Finland and Spain have collided once in their history, in 1969 in a world cup qualifying match, which the Finns won 2-0.

Pekka Hämäläinen ( the President of the Finnish football association) is very happy to get a world class opponent like Spain to play against Finland on that great day.

We'll be hoping to see a great friendly match.

Okay, we got 3 points from our last two games, so we pretty much need to win both matches ahead to qualify, or at least get 1 win and 1 tie. There's still a chance... Although it's starting to slip away we have gained 3 places on the new FIFA ranking list and are now 42nd.

12.09.2007 be ready on the defeat. :p

Now really, Finland and Poland lengthened the road to EURO as much as they only could. Now both teams have to win their every matches or almost everything if they want to play at stadiums in Switzerland and Austria.

But don't expect easy game in Finland, we're determined to win every game, especially after last defeat. (6)

Inter is apparently interested to sign Hodgson as their sports expert or something, if we don't make it to the EURO 2008.

Hodgson is also gonna be one of two coachs for the "Rest of the World" -team against Africa's greatest on a Nelson Mandela 89th birthday friendly match.
The other coach for the team will be the head coach of Ghana NT, Claude le Roy. The team includes such legends as Pele and Ruud Gullit. Such players as Samuel Eto'o and George Weah will be playing for the Africa-team.

Inter is apparently interested to sign Hodgson as their sports expert or something, if we don't make it to the EURO 2008.

Hodgson is also gonna be one of two coachs for the "Rest of the World" -team against Africa's greatest on a Nelson Mandela 89th birthday friendly match.
The other coach for the team will be the head coach of Ghana NT, Claude le Roy. The team includes such legends as Pele and Ruud Gullit. Such players as Samuel Eto'o and George Weah will be playing for the Africa-team.

The Match was finished 3-3
Goals:
Ivan Zamorano
Abedi Pele
Hossam Hassan
Hossam Hassan
Ruud Gullit
Julen Guerrero

In other news, we have gained an amazing 1(!) place on the new FIFA ranking list and are now 41st.

Some good news: Mikael Forssell seems to be getting in the great shape we have been expecting from him. With his club team Birmingham City, he has been in Germany playing friendlies and scored 4 times in 3 matches. He's had a lot of injuries in his career and it seems like his finally recovering fully from them.

Some bad news: Jari Litmanen is going to have a surgery and will be out for 4-6 months. Surely this can't be a good thing for our qualifying matches. Hopely we can manage to win our matches without him. Get well soon Litti!

Roy Hodgson has announced the team against Kazakhstan:
Goalkeepers:
Jussi Jääskeläinen Bolton
Magnus Bahne Halmstads BK
Mikko Kavén TamU

Defenders:
Sami Hyypiä Liverpool
Hannu Tihinen FC Zürich
Toni Kuivasto Djurgården
Ari Nyman FC Thun
Toni Kallio BSC Young Boys
Petri Pasanen Werder Bremen

Midfielders
Teemu Tainio Tottenham
Markus Heikkinen Rapid Wien
Joonas Kolkka NAC Breda
Roman Eremenko Udinese
Jarkko Wiss TamU
Mika Nurmela HJK
Aki Riihilahti Djurgården
Mika Ääritalo TPS
Daniel Sjölund Djurgården
Alexei Eremenko jr Saturn

Forwards:
Shefki Kuqi Crystal Palace
Jonatan Johansson Malmö FF
Mikael Forssell Birmingham
Jari Niemi TamU

Hodgson has announced the starting eleven for tomorrow's match:
Jussi Jääskeläinen; Toni Kallio, Sami Hyypiä, Hannu Tihinen, Petri Pasanen; Joonas Kolkka, Markus Heikkinen, Roman Eremenko, Teemu Tainio, Alexei Eremenko jr and Jonatan Johansson.

I could imagine the formation being something like this:

---------Jääskeläinen-----------
Kallio--Tihinen--Hyypiä--Pasanen
------Kolkka----Heikkinen-------
---R. Eremenko------Tainio-----
-----------------Eremenko jr.---
--------Johansson--------------

The game is not going to be easy, especially with three keyplayers (Litmanen, Forsell and Väyrynen) missing, but I'm hoping that we can manage to score a goal or two and concede none. We really need to win this if we want to keep our hopes alive for the tournament.

Well, we won Kazhakstan 2-1 and as Portugal drew 1-1 against Armenia, our hopes are still alive for the spot to the tournament. We have 2 points more than Portugaö, but they've played 1 match less, so we still need to win our last match to have any kind of a chance.

Roy Hodgson has announced the team for the matches against Serbia and Poland:

Goalkeepers:

Jussi Jääskeläinen, Bolton Wanderers
Mikko Kavén, Tampere United
Niki Mäenpää, FC Den Bosch

Defenders:

Sami Hyypiä, Liverpool
Hannu Tihinen, FC Zürich
Petri Pasanen, Werder Bremen
Toni Kallio, BSC Young Boys
Toni Kuivasto, Djurgårdens IF
Ari Nyman, FC Thun
Sampsa Timoska, QPR

Midfielders:

Teemu Tainio, Tottenham Hotspur
Mika Väyrynen, PSV Eindhoven
Joonas Kolkka, NAC Breda
Markus Heikkinen, SK Rapid Wien
Jari Ilola, IF Elfsborg
Mika Nurmela, HJK
Jarkko Wiss, Tampere United
Daniel Sjölund, Djurgårdens IF
Roman Eremenko, Udinese
Mika Ääritalo, TPS
Alexei Eremenko jr., FC Saturn

Forwards:

Mikael Forssell, Birmingham City
Jonatan Johansson, Malmö FF
Shefki Kuqi, Fulham
Jari Niemi, Tampere United

Do you know Bob Houghton?

No.

Litmanen is Back :bouncy:

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=616762.html

Oh, and I'd like to post my condolences to the victims of the Jokela school massacre. :(

Thank you for that, I don't like the way The Times wrote about the massacre, how we depend on electronics, suicides are common and so on. That's just a load of bullcrap.

Good to have Litti back, we really need him in these decicive matches which will decide everything.

OK, so we're not in the EURO and ofcourse I'm a bit sad, but this was a great step forward for our team. I'm not dissapointed that we couldn't beat Portugal, I didn't expect us to, I'm just pissed that we didn't take care of the easy games in the middlestages, but it's over now...

But, as we played good in the qualifications, we are now 36th (44th previously) on the new FIFA ranking list and as the reslut we are now in the third basket (Y) for the next WC qualification groups.

So, Roy Hodgson joined Fulham some time ago now, and we're looking for a new manager. Frank De Boer seems one of the most probable choices right now, it has been reported that there have been some negotiations with this 37-year-old ex-Ajax-player, who has now coached the Ajax junior team.