Finland on brink of Nation's League crash-out following recent results
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Loading... - Darby Hughes
- 26 Jul 2022
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Oh the Nation's League, to some, is a mere friendly tournament that holds little relevance let-alone importance. However, to others, a competition designed for smaller nations to flourish, and climb up the leagues. While some may add Finland to that bracket, Suomi has recently risen up the ranks, all the way up to 57th in the FIFA World Ranking. However, despite their relatively poor performances in the Nation's League group 3 League B so far, the full story was not told solely by the scoreline in each game.
The Euro 2020 participants engaged in an enthralling battle in their group with Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
The first game was against Balkan side Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Finland picked up a point from a 1-1 result ultimately, however, how deserved was this? Teemu Pukki opened the scoring for Huuhkajat from the spot, to get his 35th goal for the national team after clumsy handling of the ball by Sanjin Prcic, right on the edge of halftime, the importance was prevalent. VAR was certainly not far from scrutiny once again, as the technology was utilized again much to Suomi's disdain. Watched through UEFA.tv, it can be seen how Finland maintained a level of uncertainty and instability throughout the second half.
Initially, Finland was struggling to cope with the Bosnian high pressure and lost possession under such on a plethora of occasions. This may have been due to the presumption that the Balkan side would implement a 3-back formation, whereas a 4-back was used. However, as the half progressed, Finland managed to keep the visitors at bay. As a result, Bosnian talisman Edin Dzeko was left isolated, which proved crucial to the home side. Finland continued their promising first half with quick passing moves, one that happened to lead to
Robin Lod finishing for Finland, which was later dismissed due to an offside by Pukki in the build-up. Read More...
