Huuhkajat travelled to New Zealand and defeated the All Whites by two goals to nil. Joel Pohjanpalo opened the scoring for the visitors via a well-worked set piece, while Jaakko Oksanen benefited from Topi Keskinen‘s run in behind the New Zealand defence to seal the victory.
Jacob Friis‘ switch to a 4-2-3-1 enabled the runs of wingers such as Topi Keskinen and Daniel Håkans, when available, to run behind the opposition defence, providing a much-needed thrust and support for the centre forward compared to the aging and relatively slower combination of Pohjanpalo, Pukki and Källman in the past.
Keskinen ran in behind and provided the assist for the 2nd goal
Though Finland looked great in possession and took advantage of New Zealand’s poor ability to direct the play defensively in the first half, Finland struggled with getting numbers in the box and attacking crosses. The attacking combination of Antman, Pohjanpalo and Skyttä suggested central combination plays, but as most oppositions would set up defending central areas, contain the attack and force the play wide, Finland would need the likes of full-backs Alho and Lähteenmäki to make forward runs and support the attack.
The Finnish defence had not improved defensively either from the shock loss to Malta last November, with the full-back pressing very high on the wing and the midfielder was not sure whether they should track opposition runners into the channels.
The Finnish fans should be excited that many of the U21 National Team prospects came through the ranks and debuted for the Senior National Team. Congratulations to Samuli Miettinen, Doni Arifi, Tony Miettinen and Kasper Paananen!
Here was the player who stood out:
Topi Keskinen, LW, 2003, Finland
The Aberdeen left winger collected one assist as he ran behind the New Zealand backline on the right and his half-space cross found Oksanen in the middle. Known for his electrifying pace, his runs in behind would stretch the opposition backline, diversify Finland’s attacking options, vary Finland’s angles of attack and create space for other Finnish attackers in front of the defence.
You can check our offers here and reach out to us via our ‘Contact us’ page for fixed or flexible packages. If you like it please SUBSCRIBE to the blog and you will receive all future articles and news.
