Latest news with #EURO2023
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Euro 2025: Finland team guide – can the underdogs produce another historic upset?
Never the winners, but capable of an upset or two against the right opponents, Finland's women's national team are seated in European soccer's mid-tier. The Helmarit (the Boreal Owls) shocked the women's football world in 2005, reaching the semifinals after drawing with Sweden and defeating Denmark, before falling to Germany in the penultimate match. Advertisement As hosts in 2009, expectations were high, but they've yet to return to those elite heights. Under coach Marko Saloranta, they have qualified for this year's tournament via the playoffs, landing in Group A alongside Norway, Iceland, and hosts Switzerland. Ranked 26th in FIFA's standings, they won't stun crowds; however, they are not going down without a fight. Saloranta has led the senior team since 2022 after briefly taking charge in 2017. He has also led youth teams and served as an assistant coach since 2009. The 53-year-old former player has worked with many on this squad since their under-16 and under-17 years and guided them through a difficult qualifying campaign. Saloranta is a cautious, defensive-minded manager, unwilling to take too many risks, which could be good when results matter more than style. Finland's game is exhausting for wingers as they are compact and disciplined. Expect a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 base. They like to press defensively and are sharp on the counter. Defenders push high, such as Chicago Stars defender Natalia Kuikka, who often joins attacks as she did in the qualifying play-off against Scotland. Overall, Finland are more territorial and take organization over flair, which makes them tough to break down, but against experienced attackers, they can be slow. Eveliina Summanen is their creative midfielder. She is a playmaker who sparks transitions and links defence to attack. The Tottenham Hotspur player recently returned from injury. Emma Koivisto is a defender with over 100 caps across WSL, Serie A and Damallsvenskan. The AC Milan player is a versatile option for Finland, having played both full-back and winger. Natalia Kuikka has recovered from injury in time to make the squad and, if back to full fitness, will be a key dynamic defender. The 29-year-old currently plays for the NWSL's Chicago Stars FC. She was named Finnish Footballer of the Year in 2022. The squad is strong as a collective and has an element of being an underdog, which they've taken advantage of in the past. They are known for playing with a compact defensive structure led by strong full-backs and an organised midfield that can make an impact on counterattacks. A lack of creativity in midfield and attacking structure hurts this team. Against high-press or possession-heavy teams, they can be overrun, slowed, and starved of the ball. As the lowest-ranked team in Group A, they will come up against teams used to higher levels of competition. Finland have had a nice run of form heading into the Euros, but many of those wins came from competition in League B of the UEFA Nations League. No major injuries have been reported recently, and the squad that featured in the May/June 2025 Nations League is expected to arrive in Switzerland at full strength. Finland's last year was a mixed bag. Of the 16 matches played, they won nine, drew four and lost three. They beat Italy in Euro qualifying (2‑1), they had a surprise draw against the Netherlands (1-1), but they also experienced multi-goal losses against Norway (4‑0) and Italy (4-0). They performed better in League B of UEFA Nations League, with five wins, one draw and one loss, but they still failed direct promotion due to a draw with Serbia (1‑1). The highlight of their last 12 months was a playoff win against Scotland (2‑0) in December 2024, which earned them a spot at the Euros. Saloranta is hoping for a better performance than the team's 2022 run, when they lost all group stage matches against Germany, Spain and Denmark. Their best hope is for a mistake from Norway or Switzerland to advance beyond the group stage for the first time since 2009. In Group A, they're underdogs among Iceland, two-time champion Norway, and hosts Switzerland. Advertisement It will be tough for them to beat Norway, but with their defensive structure, they might find a result against Switzerland and a draw against Iceland, leaving them with four points to get out of the group if the stars align. Just getting to the tournament after the two-leg playoff with Scotland was a win for Finland. The Helmarit recently mistakenly called up a retired 51-year-old player for their match against Serbia. Defender Nanne Ruuskanen missed the June 3 Nations League match due to a clerical error when team manager Outi Saarinen accidentally put Stina Ruuskanen's name, a player who retired 29 years ago, instead of Nanne Ruuskanen, a current player. Saarinen apologised for the error via a formal statement from the Finnish federation.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sweden's Soft Hooligans prepare to pump up the volume at Women's Euros
In some parts of the world, Sweden is often confused with Switzerland. But this summer there will be no mistaking Swedish football fans as they descend on Switzerland for the Women's European Championship bringing great colour as well as great noise. As ever, Soft Hooligans, a grassroots supporter group, is leading the line but this time there are more logistical issues to think about. 'A major concern was how the 'f' we were going to get all our stuff down there,' says Caroline Gunnarsson, a Soft Hooligans member who will be driving the group's campervan to Geneva, one which will be full to the brim with drums, megaphones, banners and flags. Soft Hooligans was founded in 2017 after Estrid Kjellman returned from the Netherlands where she had watched the Euros with her family. She was impressed with the presence and passion of Dutch fans but was also taken aback by the lack of atmosphere in general. Used to the singing culture at men's games in Sweden, Kjellman was inspired to change things. 'I felt really strongly that I wanted it to be just as fun to watch women's football as it was to watch the Herrallsvenskan [the Swedish men's top division],' Estrid says. 'It was incredibly quiet [at Sweden games at the 2017 Euros] although we've got a national team that competes for and wins medals at practically every tournament.' Back in Stockholm, Estrid created a Facebook group with the aim of getting people together for games involving the women's national team and herself started taking a megaphone and banners to matches, joined by her mother Kajsa Aronsson and sister Miriam Kjellman. Soon they were meeting up with lots of people beforehand and regularly filling up standing sections. The Facebook group Estrid setup now has more than 5,000 members, one of whom is Emma Holmqvist. 'We're not connected by formal structure but by the fact that we genuinely enjoy each other's company,' says Holmqvist, who will be travelling to Switzerland with her nine-year-old daughter Klara for what will be the youngster's first experience of following Sweden at a major tournament. Supporting the women's national team is a generational pursuit in Sven-Åke Svensson's family and it runs deep, with his mother, Kerstin, a sewer of flags at the kitchen table that are then handed out to fellow supporters at games. 'So far every flag has been returned every time,' Svensson says, somewhat surprised. His brother, Per-Arne, is easy to pick out at Sweden Women games given he always brings a huge inflatable banana with him. He's taking three to Switzerland, two as back-up. It will also be the first time Svensson's daughter attends a tournament, underlying the deep generational passion that exists for women's football within the Svensson family. Soft Hooligans also like to display tifos at games and plan to do so again at the Euros, albeit with some trepidation given the inability to have any practise runs. 'We're always really nervous – how steep are the stands? How many fans will be able to help? Have we calculated the section width correctly?' says Kjellman. Its largest effort to date is a 360 square-metre display featuring a portrait of Caroline Seger alongside the words 'Forever our captain'. It was unveiled as a tribute to Seger at her farewell ceremony before Sweden's match against Serbia in December, capping off an impressive 240 international appearances for the national team. The project took around 170 hours, with the painting requiring a team of 10 people working in shifts across two full days. After the match, the sheet was cut up and repurposed for new banners. One such banner appeared at Sweden's recent meeting with Denmark carrying the phrase 'Pernille tar disken' – 'Pernille does the dishes', a playful nod to ongoing banter between Swedish centre-back Magdalena Eriksson and her fiancée, Danish striker Pernille Harder, the pair joking that the loser of their head-to-head clashes has to take on dish duty. Soft Hooligans has developed a good working relationship with the Swedish Football Federation. Designated supporter liaison officers assist the group with practical matters, such as submitting banners for Uefa approval and arranging transport for tifos and flags to stadiums. The federation also provides financial support for banners and helps the group scout suitable gathering spots before matches, which is an essential part of the supporter experience. 'At the meet-up you get a chance to chat and connect,' says Svensson. 'Then you go out singing in the march [to the stadium], showing the city that you're coming. At the game it's all about making noise and focusing on the game.' After the most recent World Cup, Soft Hooligans faced mockery online over its name and was ridiculed for not following the so-called norms of supporter culture. 'I think it can often be provocative when a group chooses to do something in a new way,' says Holmqvist. But it is not something that has kept the group back, and if anything it is getting bigger and stronger. There has been a record-breaking number of applications for tickets from Swedish fans for the Euros through the federation; a 70% increase compared to the 2022 tournament. For the group-stage matches alone, an average of 1,700 tickets have been requested, with many more fans expected to purchase tickets directly from Uefa. 'It feels more like a big group of friends,' says Holmqvist. 'And the group just keeps growing.' This is an extract from our free email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back to its twice-weekly format, delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.
