Finland national football team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ Finland national football team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Finland Nickname(s)Huuhkajat ("Eurasian Eagle-owls")AssociationFootball Association of Finland(Suomen Palloliitto, Finlands Bollförbund)ConfederationUEFA (Europe)Head coach Stuart BaxterCaptainJari LitmanenMost capsJari Litmanen (115)Top scorerJari Litmanen (30)Home stadiumHelsinki Olympic StadiumFIFA codeFINFIFA ranking42Highest FIFA ranking33 (March 2007)Lowest FIFA ranking79 (December 1996)Elo ranking47Highest Elo ranking30 (March 2002)Lowest Elo ranking125 (1962-3)     Home colours   Away coloursFirst international Finland 2 - 5 Sweden  (Helsinki, Finland; October 22, 1911)Biggest win Finland 10 - 2 Estonia  (Helsinki, Finland; August 11, 1922)Biggest defeat Germany 13 - 0 Finland (Leipzig, Germany; September 1, 1940)The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland.The Finnish national team has never qualified for a finals tournament of the World Cup or the European Championships, but has made four Olympic tournament appearances. It was considered one of the weakest teams in Europe in past decades; especially at a time when many of today's smallest nations didn't yet compete in international football. Finland is one of the few European countries where football is not the most popular spectator sport, and the game has traditionally been played on an amateur basis in the country. Only in the last decade – after the Bosman ruling and the removal of foreign quotas in the EU region – have Finnish players had significant opportunities to play in the continent's top leagues. Today, nearly all regular members of the national team play outside of Finland.Contents1 History2 Euro 2008 Qualification3 Stadiums4 Nickname5 World Cup record6 European Championship record7 Current squad7.1 Recent Call Up8 Coaching staff9 Famous past players10 Player records10.1 Most capped players10.2 Top goalscorers11 Coaches12 See also13 References14 External links//[edit] HistoryThe Football Association of Finland was founded as early as 1907 and became a member of FIFA in 1908, despite the fact that at that time Finland was still an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire and didn't gain independence until 1917. Finland played its first international match on October 22, 1911, losing to neighbours Sweden 2-5 in Helsinki.A fourth place finish at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm still arguably ranks as the country's best ever achievement in international football. Finland beat Italy and Russia in the first two rounds before losing to Great Britain in the semi-finals. In the bronze medal match they were beaten 0-9 by the Netherlands. According to the story, the Finns were under the impression that the match would be a day later, so they had gone out celebrating the night before the match, and as a consequence were easily beaten. Finland's star player Eino Soinio, aged only 17 at the time, was chosen to the all-star team of the tournament by Swedish paper Idrottsbladet.Finland also took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but was beaten by Peru in the first round. The country sought qualification for the World Cup for the first time in the 1938 event, but failed to score a single point. The fortunes of the team didn't improve much in the 1950s or 1960s: they were never near qualification, and didn't achieve their first win until 1965. Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, but had to wait for its first win until 1978. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki saw the hosts crash to Austria in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial Nordic championship in 1952, 1964 and 1966.The results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for Euro 1980 by just a point and for the 1986 World Cup by two points. Finland was invited to take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after many Western countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group.By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high profile European leagues, led by the Ajax superstar Jari Litmanen. In 1996 Danish Euro 1992 winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen was hired to take Finland to the 1998 World Cup. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, highpoints of which were a draw and a win away to Norway and Switzerland respectively. Going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to Hungary to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1-0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, and once again the dreams of qualification were over. Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to Euro 2000. In this campaign the Finns recorded a sensational win away to Turkey, but couldn't compete with Germany and Turkey in the long run.Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000. He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen. The team also performed quite well under him in qualification for the 2002 World Cup despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with England as well as beating Greece 5-1 in Helsinki. In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group. Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal. However, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations). These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3-0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group. In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, but results didn't improve.In August 2005 it was announced that Roy Hodgson would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. The Englishman becomes the second high profile foreign coach in recent history of the country, as he tries to lead the team to its first ever major championship qualification. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.[1][edit] Euro 2008 Qualification This section does not cite any references or sources.Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)Finland was competing in Group A in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3-1 away and earning a 1-1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0-0 with the former and beating the latter 2-0. On 15th of November, 2006 Finland beat Armenia 1-0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying. In Finland's first match of 2007, they were in poor form when they lost against Azerbaijan 1-0, one of the worst matches in Finnish footballing history. On early June they lost to Serbia 2-0 at home, which many fans felt being the end of a real battle for qualification. But the next match was against Belgium and team Finland gained the trust of their fans back by winning 2-0 at home.[edit] StadiumsMost of Finland's important home matches are played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the capital Helsinki. It has been Finland's principal home stadium ever since its construction was completed in 1938. Before that Pallokenttä in Helsinki was mainly used.Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the Ratina Stadion in Tampere. Helsinki's Finnair Stadium, which has artificial turf, is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers.[edit] Nickname  Bubi spectating a football gameThe team's nickname commonly used in Finland is "Huuhkajat" (Eurasian eagle-owls). This originates from an eagle-owl named Bubi living near the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. He made his first appearance in a football game in 2007 in a game between Finland and Belgium, helping Finland win 2-0. Bubi was named Helsinki's "Resident of the Year" in 2007 and to the surprise of spectators, visited his own award ceremony on the stadium. [2] The name of the Eurasian eagle-owl has its roots in the scientific name of the species (Bubo bubo) and legendary Finnish sports commentator Bror-Erik "Bubi" Wallenius.[edit] World Cup record1930 to 1934 - Did not enter1938 - Did not qualify1950 - Withdrew during qualifying1954 to 2006 - Did not qualify[edit] European Championship record1960 to 1964 - Did not enter1968 to 2008 - Did not qualify[edit] Current squadSelections for the match against Germany on September 10, 2008 .[3][4]No.Pos.PlayerDoB (Age)CapsGoalsClub1GKJussi JääskeläinenAugust 19, 1975 (1975-08-19) (age 33)430 Bolton WanderersGKPeter EnckelmanMarch 10, 1977 (1977-03-10) (age 31)110 Cardiff CityGKOtto FredriksonNovember 30, 1981 (1981-11-30) (age 26)10 Lillestrøm SK13DFVeli LampiJuly 18, 1984 (1984-07-18) (age 24)90 FC ZürichDFPetri PasanenSeptember 24, 1980 (1980-09-24) (age 27)451 SV Werder Bremen17DFAri NymanFebruary 7, 1984 (1984-02-07) (age 24)180 FC Thun14DFToni KuivastoDecember 31, 1975 (1975-12-31) (age 32)731 Djurgårdens IF4DFSami HyypiäOctober 7, 1973 (1973-10-07) (age 34)915 Liverpool F.C.18DFNiklas MoisanderSeptember 29, 1985 (1985-09-29) (age 22)10 AZ Alkmaar3DFToni KallioAugust 9, 1978 (1978-08-09) (age 30)392 Fulham F.C.11MFJoonas KolkkaSeptember 28, 1974 (1974-09-28) (age 33)8711 NAC Breda15MFMarkus HeikkinenOctober 13, 1978 (1978-10-13) (age 29)370 SK Rapid WienMFTeemu TainioNovember 27, 1979 (1979-11-27) (age 28)436 Sunderland AFC7MFRoman EremenkoMarch 19, 1987 (1987-03-19) (age 21)100 FC Dynamo Kyiv6MFMika VäyrynenNovember 28, 1981 (1981-11-28) (age 26)372 SC HeerenveenMFDaniel SjölundApril 22, 1983 (1983-04-22) (age 25)151 Djurgårdens IF9FWMikael ForssellMarch 15, 1981 (1981-03-15) (age 27)5617 Hannover 9616FWJonatan JohanssonAugust 16, 1975 (1975-08-16) (age 33)9016 Malmö FFFWNjazi KuqiMarch 25, 1983 (1983-03-25) (age 25)23 TuS Koblenz19FWAntti PohjaJanuary 11, 1977 (1977-01-11) (age 31)212 Tampere UnitedHead coach: Stuart Baxter[edit] Recent Call UpCalled up within the last year and are still available for selection.No.Pos.PlayerDoB (Age)CapsGoalsClubGKHenri SillanpääfJune 4, 1979 (1979-06-04) (age 29)40 Vaasan PalloseuraGKJani VianderfAugust 18, 1975 (1975-08-18) (age 33)130 Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi12GKMagnus BahnebMarch 15, 1979 (1979-03-15) (age 29)20 Halmstads BK12GKNiki MäenpääaJanuary 23, 1985 (1985-01-23) (age 23)20 FC Den BoschDFHannu PatronencMay 23, 1984 (1984-05-23) (age 24)00 Helsingborgs IFDFMarkus HalstidMarch 19, 1984 (1984-03-19) (age 24)10 Malmö FFDFJuha PasojacNovember 16, 1976 (1976-11-16) (age 31)150 Ham-KamDFTuomo KönönenfDecember 29, 1977 (1977-12-29) (age 30)60 Odd GrenlandDFHeikki PulkkinenfAugust 12, 1982 (1982-08-12) (age 26)20 MyPaDFToni JärvinenfJanuary 27, 1981 (1981-01-27) (age 27)00 Tampere UnitedDFJukka SausocJune 20, 1982 (1982-06-20) (age 26)50 Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi5DFHannu TihinenaJuly 1, 1976 (1976-07-01) (age 32)654 FC ZürichDFSampsa TimoskajDecember 12, 1979 (1979-12-12) (age 28)20 MyPaMFJanne SaarineneFebruary 28, 1977 (1977-02-28) (age 31)420 BK HäckenMFFredrik SvanbäckeDecember 5, 1979 (1979-12-05) (age 28)10 Helsingborgs IFMFAki RiihilahtiiSeptember 9, 1976 (1976-09-09) (age 31)6911 Djurgårdens IFMFJari IlolahAugust 29, 1978 (1978-08-29) (age 30)301 IF ElfsborgMFKari ArkivuofJune 23, 1983 (1983-06-23) (age 25)61 Sandefjord FotballMFAlexei Eremenko Jr.dMarch 24, 1983 (1983-03-24) (age 25)3512 FC SaturnMFTim SparvdFebruary 20, 1987 (1987-02-20) (age 21)00 Halmstads BKMFKasper HämäläinendAugust 8, 1986 (1986-08-08) (age 22)00 Turun Palloseura20MFMika ÄäritalobJuly 25, 1985 (1985-07-25) (age 23)00 Turun PalloseuraMFMika OjalabJune 21, 1988 (1988-06-21) (age 20)00 FC Inter TurkuMFJuska SavolaineniSeptember 1, 1983 (1983-09-01) (age 25)00 Rosenborg BKFWBerat SadikcSeptember 14, 1986 (1986-09-14) (age 21)20 Arminia BielefeldFWShefki KuqigNovember 10, 1976 (1976-11-10) (age 31)526 Ipswich Town F.C.FWRoni PorokarafDecember 12, 1983 (1983-12-12) (age 24)20 Örebro SK10FWJari LitmanenaFebruary 20, 1971 (1971-02-20) (age 37)11530 FC Lahtia Called up v. Germany on September 10, 2008, but had to withdraw due to injury/illnessb Last called up v. Israel on August 20, 2008c Last called up v. Belarus on June 2, 2008d Last called up v. Turkey on May 29, 2008e Last called up v. Bulgaria on March 26, 2008f Last called up v. Greece on February 6, 2008g Last called up v. Portugal on November 21, 2007h Last called up v. Azerbaijan on November 17, 2007i Last called up v. Spain on October 17, 2007j Last called up v. Serbia on September 8, 2007Caps and goals correct as of August 21, 2008[edit] Coaching staffHead coach: Stuart BaxterCoach: Jari-Pekka KeurulainenGoalkeeping coach: Olli HuttunenScout: Keith ArmstrongTechnical analyst: Kari UkkonenU-21 coach: Markku KanervaTeam director: Lennart WangelTeam doctor: Heikki KinnunenMasseur: Hannu KanervaPhysiotherapist: Paavo LeiramoKit manager: Kai KyntöläMedia officer: Timo Walden[edit] Famous past players This is a list of famous or notable sports persons with no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria, and as such should not be treated as encylopedic. Please help to improve Wikipedia by ensuring that there is specific reason for the selected players. It would be useful to establish WP:CONSENSUS for such criteria on the talk page, using guidance available at WP:NOTED PLAYER. If no criteria is forthcoming, the section is liable to deletion.Please do not remove this message until the section contains only verifiable materialVeikko AsikainenVerner EklöfPentti EronenAri HjelmOlli HuttunenJukka IkäläinenAtik IsmailMarkku KanervaHjalmar KelinOlavi LaaksonenKari LaukkanenAatos Lehtonen Kalevi LehtovirtaÅke LindmanMika LipponenStig-Göran MynttiAntti NiemiKaarlo NiilonenAlgoth NiskaMika-Matti PaatelainenKai PahlmanJuhani PeltonenErkka PetäjäJari Rantanen Pasi RautiainenNils RikbergOlavi RissanenLars NasmanAulis RytkönenThure SarnolaEino SoinioAntti SumialaArto TolsaSimo ValakariMax Viinioksa Jarl Öhman[edit] Player records[edit] Most capped players#NameCareerCapsGoals1Jari Litmanen1989-115302Ari Hjelm1983-96100203Sami Hyypiä1992-9154Jonatan Johansson1996-90165Joonas Kolkka1994-87116Erkka Petäjä1983-948307Arto Tolsa1964-8176108Toni Kuivasto1997-7319Mika Nurmela1992-200771410Mika-Matti Paatelainen1986-20007018[edit] Top goalscorers#NameCareerGoalsCaps1Jari Litmanen1989-301152Ari Hjelm1983-96201003Mika-Matti Paatelainen1986-200018704Verner Eklöf1919-271732=Mikael Forssell1999-17566Aulis Koponen1924-351639=Gunnar Åström1923-371644=Jonatan Johansson1996-16909William Kanerva1922-381351=Jorma Vaihela1947-541333Correct as of August 21, 2008Players who are still active and available for selection are in bold.[edit] CoachesCoachNatTenureMatchesWinsDrawsLossesWin %No coach1911–19211762935.3Öhman, JarlJarl Öhman1922410325.0No coach1923–19357722124328.6Fabra, FerdinandFerdinand Fabra1936–1937811612.5No coach1937–1938930633.3Obitz, GáborGábor Obitz 1939610516.7No coach1939–194370160.0Mårtensson, AxelAxel Mårtensson194520020.0Tammisalo, NiiloNiilo Tammisalo194630030.0Lehtonen, AatosAatos Lehtonen1947–195551793513.7Weinreich, KurtKurt Weinreich1955–195823311913.0Lehtonen, AatosAatos Lehtonen1959–196119301615.8Laaksonen, OlaviOlavi Laaksonen1962–19749116215417.6Kosma, MarttiMartti Kosma197520110.0Rytkönen, AulisAulis Rytkönen1975–197830841826.7Malm, EskoEsko Malm1979–198127461714.8Kuusela, MarttiMartti Kuusela1982–1987539113317.0Vakkila, JukkaJukka Vakkila1988–1992487212014.6Lindholm, TommyTommy Lindholm1993–199425571320.0Ikäläinen, JukkaJukka Ikäläinen1994–199621741033.3Møller Nielsen, RichardRichard Møller Nielsen 1996–1999349121326.5Muurinen, AnttiAntti Muurinen2000–20057234122647.2Heliskoski, JyrkiJyrki Heliskoski2005622233.3Hodgson, RoyRoy Hodgson2006–200722611527.3Baxter, StuartStuart Baxter2008–511320.0Correct as of August 21, 2008[edit] See alsoFootball in FinlandFinland national under-21 football teamFinland women's national football teamSápmi national football teamÅland Islands national football team[edit] References^ BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | Hodgson to return for Inter role^ Palkittu Bubi käväisi yllättäen palkitsemistilaisuudessa - HS.fi - Kaupunki^ Suomen Palloliitto - Artikkeliarkisto^ http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=128210[edit] External links(Finnish) Official websiteRSSSF archive of results 1911-RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorersRSSSF archive of coachesThe Finnish National Team Supporters' AssociationFootball in Finland v • d • eLeague competitionsNational associationCup competitionsVeikkausliigaNational teamFinnish CupYkkönenNational U-21 teamFinnish League CupKakkonen (3 groups)Women's national teamKolmonen (12 groups)List of clubsNaisten LiigaLeague systemFootball venuesFootballers of the yearInternational footballv • d • eFIFA | World Cup | Confederations Cup | U-20 World Cup | U-17 World Cup Olympics | Asian Games | All-Africa Games | Pan American Games | Island Games | Minor TournamentsWorld Rankings | Player of the Year | Teams | Competitions | Organizations | Codes Asia: AFC - Asian Cup Africa: CAF - Africa Cup of Nations North America: CONCACAF - Gold Cup South America: CONMEBOL - Copa América Oceania: OFC - Nations Cup Europe: UEFA - European Championship Non-FIFA: NF-Board - Viva World Cup National football teams of Europe (UEFA)v • d • eAlbania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | England | Estonia | Faroe Islands | Finland | FYR Macedonia | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Republic of Ireland | Israel | Italy | Kazakhstan | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Moldova | Montenegro | Netherlands | Northern Ireland | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Scotland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | Wales Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland_national_football_team" Categories: European national football teams | Finland national football teamHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from February 2008 | Unverifiable lists of sporting persons Views Article Discussion Edit this page History Personal tools Log in / create account if (window.isMSIE55) fixalpha(); 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