Football in Finland Europe and the World

[Ace]

Well I cant really give you much information only from the results. But he you go for more info.

http://www.fifa.com

Cheers Simon, I saw the goals from this yesterday on sports news. Bad news for Finland:

Nine of the best as Colombia crush the hosts
(FIFA.com) 19 Aug 2003

Colombia shattered Finland’s dreams and qualified for the quarter-finals in spectacular fashion with a 9-1 demolishing of the hosts in Helsinki on Tuesday. With Mexico drawing 3-3 in the other Group A game against China, Eduardo Lara’s team qualified in first place and will now take on Costa Rica at the same Töölö stadium on Saturday. Carlos Hidalgo, who hit four and now joins Freddy Adu as the tournament’s top scorer, and Gustavo Adrian Ramos both hit hat-tricks in the romp.
With Colombia needing just a draw and Finland an outright win, the match got off to a blistering start with both teams attacking at will. Under a setting sun and with spectators finding positions on a hilltop over looking the packed Töölö stadium, both young teams were eager to entertain.

The Rascals had an early chance with Jarkko Hurme heading over a corner. But it was the South Americans who found a cutting edge. Rising at the back post, tall defender Juan Carlos Morales looped a header that hit the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety. Within minutes though they were ahead through a fine effort from Carlos Hidalgo. The number 15 clipped a 20-yard free kick beyond the reach of goalkeeper Aapo Kiljunen and into the top corner to quiet the home fans and send a large contingent from Colombia wild (1-0, ‘16).

Exquisite chip
Finland came immediately back. Eetu Muinonen controlled a difficult right-wing centre inside the box before crashing it across goal. The home side went 2-0 down moments later. Gustavo Adrian Ramos was sent racing clear on goal and was brought down by Kiljunen. Hidalgo stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way for his second of the game (2-0, ‘32).

Three minutes later and it was 3-0. An exquisite chip from the left-side of the box from Jose Otalvaro struck the underside of the bar and then the post before bouncing down where Ramos lay in waiting to nod past the despairing Finnish keeper (3-0, ‘36).

Top striker Tomi Petrescu breathed some life into the misbehaving Rascals just before half-time when he rediscovered his predatory instinct to latch onto a miss-hit shot from Jarno Parikka and side foot home from close in (3-1, ‘41).

Knowing they had to win to qualify, Finland threw everything forward after the break. But they left their defence exposed and Colombia capitalised in sensational fashion. Hidalgo notched the first hat-trick of the night when he found himself alone in the box before firing home (4-1, ‘50).

A terrible mistake in his own area by Sami Sanevuori handed Hidalgo his fourth as he whacked the Finnish present past the stranded Kiljunen (5-1, ‘61)

Worse and worse
Two minutes later and, incredibly, it was 6-1. The Finnish defence, now a shambles, failed to clear their lines and captain Fredy Guarin got in on the act to steer the ball in (6-1, ‘63).

Five minutes later things just got worse. Another scramble and Ramos had his second with Colombia players queuing up to poke in after another goalmouth scramble (7-1,’68 ). With the Finnish defence now nowhere to be seen, Ramos completed his hat-trick in similar fashion (8-1, ‘71).

And it was left to number 9, substitute Juan Gilberto Nunez, to complete the scoring with the ninth, running on to a through ball before rounding the keeper and slotting home from a tight angle (9-1, ‘74).

It could and should have been ten but, despite the calls from the unforgiving South American fans, double figures did not arrive.

Philosophical
“In such hard times for our country the young kids have given the people of Colombia some joy,” said coach Lara after the match. “But the next match against Costa Rica will be difficult. We will have to be on our toes, keep on working hard and not get carried away by our nine goals today.”

“I have been criticised a bit back home for not playing the Colombian way of controlling games,” added Lara. “But I think today, after playing here for two matches, we showed we have got used to the artificial turf.”

Finland coach Jyrki Heliskoski was philosophical after the hammering and elimination from the finals.

“We needed a win and I think we played our best football of the tournament in the first half,” he said. “The second half was a catastrophe but when you are 4-1 down and you have to win to go through, it is not the time to defend.

“Despite tonight’s scoreline, the competition has been a success for us. We have witnessed great atmospheres here and Finnish football can only prosper because of it.”

[Slothrop]

Yeah, I was there and witnessed the disaster at close quarters. Apart from their awful habit of falling over and calling for an ambulance every time anyone went near them, the Colombians were a class act. That midfielder - Otalvaro - particularly took the eye, even if he didn't score. The third goal was all his doing, and he was the driving force for most of their attacks until he tired after about an hour. Mind you, he was among the worst offenders, too, in the fall-over-and-play-dead department.

By the end, the Colombian fans were cruelly singing "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-TEN" and the locals were leaving in droves.

The FIFA pages are the most comprehensive site, but we've been following it at Helsingin Sanomat, too. You can find a rather less factual and more polemic report here:

http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20030820IE1

With a bit of luck the picture will open too, by the time you read this.

[Ace]

The FIFA pages are the most comprehensive site, but we've been following it at Helsingin Sanomat, too. You can find a rather less factual and more polemic report here:

http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20030820IE1

With a bit of luck the picture will open too, by the time you read this.

Good stuff WLM Who's your tip for the tournament then?

[Slothrop]

To be honest, I haven't seen enough games (though quite a few are shown live on Eurosport), but I'd expect to see an Argentina-Brazil final.
Of course, now I've gone and said that, Brazil will get stuffed by Yemen tonight and wind up meeting the Argies in the semis. But all the reports said the Brazil side made the Portuguese (European Champions) look like skittles, and Argentina haven't conceded a goal yet, although Nigeria went close. Sure the Group B form-line with Australia isn't that great, but the Aussie team beat the Finns quite comfortably a couple of weeks ago, so they can't be THAT bad.

The Yanks will probably have to do without this wunderkind Freddy Wotsit tonight - he's got two bookings and they'd be daft to play him and risk his absence in a knock-out game - and it will be interesting to see just HOW important he is to them. They might get cooked by Spain.

But what do I know?

[Ace]

But what do I know?

A lot more than me about the competition evidently. I will pay more attention now the knockout stages are almost upon us

[simon]

Coming back from Stockholm the other day and I saw the Argies team at the airport all looking young and strangly very similiar, So I stood in front of them and said COME ON THEN with both fists clenched, they duely gave me a good hiding and since I have been supporting them as they are the hardest team in the comp.

HTH

[Slothrop]

Phew!

Brazil did the business. Spared my blushes. But take a look at that Portugal - Cameroon scoreline, and the half-time score. Jesus, that's better than playing yourself at Subbuteo and changing sides halfway.

http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/event/summa ... ,c,22.html

And the Septics did slip up to Spain, which means they'll have to face Brazil next, which should be a good test for the boy wonder Freddy. And Spain and Portugal face off to wipe out half of the European contingent.

It means there are bound to be three Central or South American teams in the semis, and makes my Bra-Arg final prediction look almost reasonable.

[Ace]

I have been supporting them as they are the hardest team in the comp.

Well it certainly isn't Columbia if WLM's report is anything to go by

And the Septics did slip up to Spain

Phew!
But take a look at that Portugal - Cameroon scoreline, and the half-time score. Jesus, that's better than playing yourself at Subbuteo and changing sides halfway.

http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/event/summa ... ,c,22.html

Thats some comeback that A pity Finland couldn't manage one of similar proportions yesterday.

[Slothrop]

With the exception of the USA, who are halfway there already, ALL the teams left in the competition are from Spanish or Portuguese speaking nations.

Not sure if this is really relevant, but anyway.

[Hank W.]

futból!!!

[Ace]

With the exception of the USA, who are halfway there already, ALL the teams left in the competition are from Spanish or Portuguese speaking nations.

Not sure if this is really relevant, but anyway.

By the sound of the scorelines, most of the defences are crap. That surely suits the south american/spanish/portugese style of play When the players get older and more tactically astute. And come up against italian style defensive formations. Or teams like liverpool who play 8 defenders one holding striker and a speed demon for the offside trap Things change. (although not all that much as Brazil still win the world cup most of the time )

[ajdias]

<futból>

It soon might be something like Socero (the Americas) or Socado (Br).

All those teams are traditionally quite strong at this level, only Africans have seriously disappointted. I wounder if the US is going to be the new superpower in 10 years. With Adu's example and all those "soccer mums"..

I am not so convinced that Brazilians are strong. They have a lot of talent but their initial 60 minutes against Portugal did not convince me that they were superior. Portugal was unlucky and has a very poor defense. And the boys were having holidays, 1 month, after winning the european title. That might explain why they end their games nearly crawling. Poor condition and lack of atitude can explain a lot.

[ajdias]

I wondered about that : Brazillian club in the world club championships 2000, that United took part in

Yep, Vascão is also said to be the team of portuguese ppl living in Brasil. Nowadays is more of a local club of Rio de Janeiro, just like any other.
Regarding Vasco da Gama, I have a feeling that he would be better known had he played stupid and "discovered" India on a completly different area of the globe.

BTW still haven't forgiven you for this

I'll be glad if we can repeat it, already next summer. Let's just say that we'll do our best.

[Ace]

I wounder if the US is going to be the new superpower in 10 years. With Adu's example and all those "soccer mums"..

Im convinced of it, slowly but surely they're catching up. The senior team looked all right in the last world cup too. They played some nice football. And acheived a quarter final place (same as England). And how about these moments:

USA 3 : 2 POR
The United States shocked Portugal with three goals in the first 36 minutes, then held on for the upset at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Korea to move to the top of Group D with FIFA World Cup™ co-host Korea.

Did ajdias not like that

KOR 1 : 1 USA
Ahn Jung Hwan’s second-half header cancelled out a slick Clint Mathis strike as the Group D upstarts split the points in the red cauldron of Daegu, Korea. The home side very easily could have won the match as they not only had a Eul Yong Lee penalty saved by Brad Friedel, but they created far and away the greater number of chances.

POLAND 3 : 1 USA
The United States suffered defeat at the hands of Poland at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Korea Friday but still advanced to the second round thanks to Korea Republic's victory over Portugal (0:1). USA will next face Mexico in the round of 16, while Korea will take on Italy.

MEXICO 0 : 2 UNITED STATES
Despite persistent Mexican pressure, the USA beat their continental rivals 2-0 in Jeonju, Korea, to move into a quarter-final match-up with Germany. It was a cool performance by the Americans, who attacked well on the counter-attack and killed off the match through Landon Donovan's header in the second half.

GERMANY 1 : 0 UNITED STATES
Germany got a lone goal from Michael Ballack to beat the U.S. in a hotly contested match-up in Ulsan, Korea. The Europeans move on to face Korea or Spain in their tenth semi-final.

If they can improve on that at the next one they'll have a top 4 finish.
BTW check USA's current world ranking here Not that I agree with that but still

[Slothrop]

Neck out-sticking time: Brazil will cruelly expose the Americans. By all accounts, they scraped it against Sierra Leone, and were not worth 6 against the Koreans.

As for that Portugal-boys-getting-tired thing, sure they got a hiding in the last halfhour last night, but how do you explain their second-half comeback in the first game? 2-0 down at half time and they scored four in the second half.

I shall treat the Liverpool remark with a snort of disdain, feebly disguising my total (and deeply saddened) agreement with the comment.

To think, if they'd only bought him a year or two earlier, they could have got some joy out of Litmanen and given us some joy in watching them. Still, with all those long balls forward through the air, at least people standing outside Anfield can get to see something now and then.