Well I can't write too much about the match as I didn't make the trip to Tampere. I was forced to sit out due to yellow card accumulation, and decided to stay back and train on my own rather then make the long trip to Tampere.
From what I have heard, we didn't exactly play that well, but John Keister's first half goal ended up being enough to give us a hard fought win. It appears we were under a bit of pressure towards the close of the match as TPV searched for the equalizer, but obviously we managed to handle the pressure well enough and come home as victors.
The three points is massive for us, and currently we are only 2 points away from being safe from relegation. Of course, we will need results to go our way today if we want it to stay that way. GBK managed to take a win from PK-35 whom we will play next weekend.
In other news, Finland managed to come out of Belgrade with a dull 0-0 tie. One of the other benefits of staying behind yesterday was that I was able to catch the match. Finland from the start were obviously looking for a draw and that's it. Experience over youth seemed to be the preferred option for Roy Hodgeson's selection with Mika Nurmela getting the start out wide.
That selection told me enough about the game before it even begain. A player like Nurmela, who at his age couldn't really offer much more then helping to keep the ball when playing out wide. If he's played more centrally then I could see him having a bigger impact, but out wide he neither has the pace nor the stamina. What resulted was a very dull, uneventful draw from the Finnish side.
In the end, a draw is a good result for them though so I can't fault Roy too much. I think most Finns would have taken a draw in Serbia before the match began, and I assume and hope they will play a more youthful and offensive line-up when they take on Poland Wednesday to grab three points and really put them back in the thick of things. If they can manage to pull that result they may be able to squeeze into Euro 2008.
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And I'm sure Euro 2008 will be very happy about that.
Have to agree about the selection and the aging players Hodgson is relying on. I hope he plays an attacking team on Wednesday, but I very much doubt he will. In one way it's good that he doesn't have 'Litmanen in the last 20 minutes' as a crutch to rely on, but please. He should have brought on Shefki to score the winner and start a round of 'One Ahtisaari, there's only one Ahtisaari'...
Well the team needs all 3 points from this match so for Finland's sake I hope he puts out a more youthful attacking side. I can kind of understand going for experience away to Serbia to get a point but at home there's no excuse
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