Photo by Tero Wester.

Baxter had an eventful 2009. Finland’s qualification efforts ran aground, and the introduction of younger players went more slowly than many Finland fans would have liked. The loss to Russia and draw in Liechtenstein were particular low points, but Finland’s two victories over Wales ensured they retained third spot in the group.

Baxter has always talked about an evolution in the national team, a strategy to ensure that players are ready when they make the step up. The 2-1 victory over Wales in Helsinki and 1-1 draw in Germany four days later provided some vindication for the Birmingham-born coach. Sparv, Porokara, Hämäläinen, Moisander and Eremenko all played vital roles in those games, the question is whether they could all have played earlier or whether Baxter got their development plans just right.

At this stage it’s hard not to give him the benefit of the doubt, as some players met expectations (Moisander, Eremenko), while others exceeded them (Sparv, Hämäläinen, Porokara). Baxter’s contract runs until the end of the 2012 European Championships, or at least Finland’s involvement in it.

Finland coaching staff singing the national anthem before Finland v Russia in Helsinki. Photo by Tero Wester.

Finland’s coaching staff. Olli Huttunen, to Baxter’s left, was fighting for his survival as Haka’s head coach at this time, a fight he eventually lost to almost universal sympathy – his boss Seppo ‘Sedu’ Koskinen is not regarded as an easy man to work for. Next up is Jari-Pekka Keurulainen, who has been part of Finland’s coaching setup since Antti Muurinen’s arrival in 2000, Heikki Kinnunen, team doctor, Paavo Leiramo, physio, and Kai Kyntölä, kit man.

Jonatan Johansson scores the first goal for Finland in their 2-0 win against Wales in Cardiff. Phot by Anu Laitila.

Prior to this match Finland were not in an optimistic mood, having lost 3-0 in Moscow the previous October to make qualification quite a long shot. The calls for renewal and youth were gaining a little currency, and failure to win in cardiff could have tipped the balance, but in the end a brilliant performance from Jari Litmanen helped secure a Finland victory. He played a central role in setting up this goal for Jonatan Johansson.

The 33 year old (since turned 34) was criticised afterwards by Welsh captain Craig Bellamy, who said he wasn’t ‘good enough to score’. He played his 100th international against Germany in Hamburg on 14 October, receiving bouquets from the Finnish and German FA’s and scoring the Finland goal. He spent several months out of contract in the summer before eventually signing for St Johnstone.

Finland's young midfielder before kickoff in Cardiff. Photo by Anu Laitila.

Tim Sparv broke into the full national team in 2009, forming a formidable partnership in central midfield with Roman Eremenko. Making his debut in the bizarre February friendly against Japan in Tokyo, he was then called up to the squad for the game in Cardiff, despite also captaining the Under-21s who were at a training camp in Spain at the time. His maturity is valued by Baxter, who places a lot of emphasis on mental strength and tactical intelligence.

When he gave a press conference in October with the leaders of the previous ‘golden generation’, Sami Hyypiä and Jari Litmanen, it looked very much like an introduction to the team’s new leader. Sparv secured himself a move to Groningen in the wake of his performances in the Under-21 European Championships, and he will officially transfer to the Dutch club on 1 January 2010.

'The King' orchestrated Finland's play in Wales. Photo by Anu Laitila.

Litmanen’s performance against Wales was superb. He barely moved outside of the centre circle, but he controlled Finland’s play with a range of passing and an intelligence that almost no other Finnish player has ever displayed. At the age of 38, it is still possible he will be part of the Finland squad in the forthcoming European Championship campaign, indeed the new chairman of the Finnish FA, Sauli Niinistö, publicly asked him to stay on during his election campaign.

Tihinen, Kallio and Heikkinen thank the 2,000 Finland fans after victory in Cardiff gave them a glimmer of hope of qualification for the World Cup. Photo by Anu Laitila.

Jääskeläinen and Pasanen celebrate the Wales victory. Photo by Anu Laitila.

Finland’s 2,000-strong following in Cardiff brought admiring coverage in the press, and gratitude from the players. Fulham defender Toni Kallio started the year well, with a good performance in Wales. The 31 year old left back faced tough competition from AZ Alkmaar’s Niklas Moisander, and the Wales match was probably to prove his high point of the year in a Finland shirt.

34 year-old Hannu Tihinen recovered well from a horror show against Russia in the previous qualifier. He was to suffer again in Helsinki against Guus Hiddink’s rapid counter-attacking side, but against Wales ‘Rautavuori’, or ‘Steel mountain’, looked solid and dependable. Markus Heikkinen had a role in every Finland game this year except Wales at home, and his tenacity and versatility are very useful in a squad like Finland’s.

Petri Pasanen’s versatility ensures that he is part of most Finland teams. He can play anywhere across the back line, and has done so for Finland, while Jussi Jääskeläinen announced his retirement from international football in October.

Finland fans let off a flare in Kamppi before marching to the Russia match. Photo by Tero Wester.

Finland’s supporter group, SMJK, has brought a hint of European football culture to international matches. Whereas most Finnish sporting events are accompanied by rhythmic clapping and shouts of ‘hei! hei! hei! hei!’, or ‘maali’, at Finland matches there is a ‘curva’, and a capo, and often excellent choreography.

They had been looking forward to this game against the Eastern neighbour, and they warmed up in their usual spot in the centre of town before marching along Mannerheimintie towards the Olympic Stadium. The footballers failed to heed the ‘time for heroes’ flag, unfortunately.

Finnish and Russian fans clash on Mannerheimintie before the match. Photo by Tero Wester.

SMJK’s march to the stadium was met near the National Museum by a large group of Russian fans also wanting to get to the ground. The resulting clash between, on one of Finland’s busiest streets during rush hour, was pretty much unprecedented.

“Finland has many presidents, but only one King”. The slogan sums up Litmanen’s position in society, and indeed the “king” moniker has spread beyond internet forums and into the mainstream media. He is pretty much a living deity.

Finland fans invoke the fight against Russification from the early part of the 20th century. Photo by Tero Wester.

Isto’s maiden is intended to represent Finland’s fight against Russian domination. In the original version the eagle – representing Russia – is attempting to take away Finland’s book of laws, when its Grand Duchy status within the Russian Empire was under threat in the last years of Tsarist rule. In June, SMJK replaced the book with a football for their choreography.

Finland's team photo before kick-off against Russia in Helsinki. Photo by Tero Wester.

This starting team had an average age of 30.5.

Arshavin in possession, as he seemed to be for much of the game. Photo by Tero Wester.

Litmanen struggled to recreate his Cardiff form against Russia, and the fast-moving, modern Russia side showed the limitations of a team reliant on experience rather than mobility. Litmanen himself has the vision and creativity to involve younger water carriers, but they were not in evidence against Russia, and after the Russia game renewal of the side began in earnest. Arshavin seemed to be a quicker, more inventive, sharper version of Litmanen, prompting comparisons with the King’s earlier years. The Arsenal man dominated Finland in Moscow and Helsinki, and the failure to deal with Russian movement on and off the ball was a big failing for Finland.

Eremenko under pressure from Zurianov. Photo by Tero Wester.

Eremenko was one of the few to emerge from the Russia game with any credit, as William Moore pointed out at the time. He was under some pressure beforehand, with the Russian media playing on his and his brother’s roots (both were born in Russia), but he responded well to the challenge. Although he has been playing at right-back for Dinamo Kiev, his is probably the first midfielder’s name on the teamsheet.

Alexei Jr in his second game back. Photo by Tero Wester.

The other Eremenko brother also had a decent 2009. After going incommunicado and getting dropped from the squad for the autumn 2008 qualifiers by text message, drink-driving issues and fitness difficulties, Eremenko was recalled to the squad for the wales match and has stayed there ever since. Now playing for Metalist Kharkiv in the Ukraine, his next challenge in the national team is holding down a place in a settled side.

Finland fans show their colours. Photo by Tero Wester.

The North Curve was the only section of the stadium without Russian fans, and even there a few flags appeared around the edges. It seemed as though half of Northwest Russia had arrived in Helsinki that day, but SMJK did their best to support their team anyway.

These fans went on to suffer their own heartbreak in the play-off against Slovenia. Photo by Tero Wester.

Russian fans and players celebrate their third goal against Finland in Helsinki. Photo by Tero Wester.

Some of the estimated 30,000 Russian fans celebrate their victory, which ensured that Finland’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup disappeared.

Finland's captain makes a clearance. He was a busy man in the Russia game. Photo by Tero Wester.

Finland's captain with his eye on the ball. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Hyypiä had an eventful year. He was left out of Liverpool’s 2008-09 Champions League squad by Rafael Benitez, and the news broke in the build-up to Finland’s opening World Cup qualifier against Germany. He spoke of his hurt and shock at the decision, and his eventual departure from Liverpool began to look inevitable.

His form in a Finland shirt was mediocre, with Russia in particular giving the rather static Finnish defence nightmares, but the two games against Wales were cathartic for everyone involved. Hyypiä just about managed to keep his former team-mate Craig Bellamy in check, which did not make the Welshman happy, and is likely to continue in a Finland shirt until he decides he has had enough. He is ever-present for his new side, Bayer Leverkusen, who are challenging at the top of the Bundesliga, while his old club Liverpool look defensively weak and in danger of missing out on the Champions League.

In between the Russia match and the Wales game Finland scraped a victory in Lankaran, Azerbaijan, and drew 1-1 with Liechtenstein, which forced even Baxter to admit that qualification was ‘now very unlikely’. You can see pictures from the Liechtenstein debacle here, if you really want to.

Despite Everything, we're always here. Photo by Lauri Ouvinen.

The Azeris have been a bogey side for Finland, and a 2-1 win away from home is not to be sniffed at, but the Vaduz result was awful and the fans felt it necessary to make their views known with a banner before the Wales game. The text was ‘Kaikesta huolimatta, Me ollaan aina täällä’, which translates as ‘despite everything, we are always here’. The question was how many of the players from the older generation would also remain in the squad.

One of Finland's younger talents, Roni Porokara. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Porokara has taken a typical route for Finnish footballers, following his Veikkausliiga career with a spell in Allsvenskan. He joined Sixten Böström’s Finnish colony at Örebro when he left Honka, and has impressed so much he is unlikely to remain there in 2010. Rumours suggest he could take a very untypical route to Israel, with Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv possible destinations for the winger. Having started both the Wales and Germany games and scored the opening goal against Wales, he looks likely to remain in Stuart Baxter’s plans.

Bellamy shushes the Finland fans after equalising for Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Bellamy was prominent in the Finnish football year, after declaring that Finland and Wales were ‘two poor teams that haven’t got a hope in hell of qualifying’. Subsequent events arguably proved him right, with the Finns dropping points against a tax haven and failing to even nearly trouble Russia, but due to his tactless and provocative delivery, he still received near-constant abuse – in English – from the Finland fans, who alleged that he is a ‘homo’. This Wildean wit failed to put him off his game, and he scored Wales’s equalising goal.

Kasper Hämäläinen, Chris Gunter, and a ballboy. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Hämäläinen got his first run-out (not counting the Japan match in February) as a substitute against Wales, replacing Joonas Kolkka in the 68th minute. he did well enough to get a starting spot against Germany, and played well again, but his club season ended in disappointment as TPS Turku missed out on the title. Expected to move abroad this winter, he will need regular playing time to ensure he retains his spot in the national side.

Niklas Moisander's goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Niklas Moisander's goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Niklas Moisander's goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Niklas Moisander's goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Niklas Moisander celebrates his goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

Celebrations after Niklas Moisander's goal against Wales. Photo by Olli Jantunen.

This goal meant a lot to Moisander. In 2009 he won the Dutch league with Alkmaar, lost his coach Louis Van Gaal to Bayern Munich, and struggled to retain his position under new boss Ronald Koeman. His (some would say long overdue) establishment as a national team player was marked by this late winner in the Wales match, where he turned inside the defender and leathered the ball home from a tight angle. He spoke afterwards about the recent death of his grandfather, and his difficulties at club level, that ensured this goal – in his first Finland start at the Olympic Stadium – was important on a personal level.

Mutual applause for Finnish team, fans. Photo by, erm, 'Juustonacksu' from ff2.

You can see more pictures from Finland’s excellent yet slightly unlucky 1-1 draw in Hamburg at UEFA’s site.

Thanks, as ever, to Finns Worldwide, FutisForum2, Petteri Lehtonen, Olli Jantunen and Tero Wester.

]]> http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/finland-2009-in-pictures-part-three/feed/ 0 http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/transfer-weekly-week-47-jjk-hire-martonen-as-coach-and-are-atletico-madrid-really-viewing-sasha-anttilainen-as-a-future-replacement-for-sergio-aguero/ http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/transfer-weekly-week-47-jjk-hire-martonen-as-coach-and-are-atletico-madrid-really-viewing-sasha-anttilainen-as-a-future-replacement-for-sergio-aguero/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:46:10 +0000 Markus Kitunen http://www.nordicfootball.info/?p=4211

The Weekly is a little bit grumpy today because just when it was on the verge of scoring a new record of how many staples it can shoots inside a litter basket with a staple-gun inside sixty seconds, it was distracted by a volley of incoming transfer news that had been close to non-existent for the best part of a week. So in order for the Weekly to get to pursue his dreams of Olympic representation after staple-gun shooting is made an Olympic sport, lets skim the transfers quickly.

Keith Armstrong did a favour for JJK by not thinking them to be quite good enough for him. After the former Dancing with the Stars star snubbed JJK, who had escaped the drop through relegation qualifiers last season, the Jyväskylä club came to their senses and pulled an ingenious capture by appointing Kari Martonen, the right-hand man of both Mika Lehkosuo at Honka and Rive Kanerva in the U21s, as coach. Although there is always the dangers of dramatic decline when a side-kick is given the leading role, Martonen will most likely NOT be joining the likes of Sammy Lee, Brian Kidd, Art Garfunkle, Batman’s mate Robin, Buzz Aldrin and Joey from Friends.

Last season’s surprise package IFK Mariehamn made their first signing of the winter as 19-year-old midfield prodigy/ teetotal troublemaker Petteri Forsell arrived from VPS.

VPS, meanwhile, fanned the flames of rumours claiming Jani Lyyski is leaving Vaasa by signing Jani Tanska. IFK Mariehamn are reported wanting to get back together with Lyyski but Örebro and some other unnamed Swedish clubs are also eyeing him up in manner that suggests they might want more than just a bit of eye-candy.

Klubi 04/ HJK youngster Nosh A Lody jumped into a life-boat sent by Jaro, signing a one year deal with the Pietarsaari club.

And now for some delightful trial news…

The Weekly rubbed its eyes. Pinched itself on the arm. Padded to the medicine cabinet to make sure it had taken its daily dose of pills when it saw the news that IFK Mariehamn’s Sasha Anttilainen, the scorer of one goal per every eighteen and a half games of Veikkausliiga football, is on a two-week trial at Atletico Madrid’s reserves. Sure, a strong boy like him comes handy in a scrap and he is decent with the ball and all that…but seriously…Atletico Madrid! The Weekly hopes he’ll get a contract because that would be such an absurd transfer. The 16-year-old Johannes Nordström accompanied Anttilainen to Madrid and, apparently, the shoo-in candidate for the title of the worst run club in Europe are not the only ones who have the hots for the youngster.

In other trial-related news, Ville Taulo has been showing his undoubted talent, that usually amounts to roughly two very promising performances in midfield until getting injured, at Serie B side Crotone and Veikkausliiga top-scorer Hermanni Vuorinen was seen as the airport with a ticket to Genk in hand, talking enthusiastically that he is now ready to go abroad. The Weekly is happy for ‘Herkku’ because a bit of travelling does everyone good at this time of the year.

Martonen sparks JJK revolution!

What the hell! It didn’t take Martonen long to get busy at Jyväskylä. Half a page to be exact. But then again, it cannot take longer than a couple of seconds, after taking a quick glance at the JJK team-sheet, to come the conclusion that JJK need goal-scoring power up-front, some ball-playing talent in midfield and experience that actually matters in defence. So, in came ex-Jaro striker Mikko Hyyrynen, returnee Touko Tumanto and everybody’s favourite former Finland centre-back/ Hannu Tihinen doppelgänger Juha Pasoja. Each were given a two-year deal.

That’s your lot then. The Weekly will now shut the computer, close the mobile, tape the letterbox shut so that nothing will distract it from pursuing his ambition of Olympic stardom.

Transfers:

Nosh A Lody

From: HJK; To: FF Jaro; 2009: 0/0; Total: 0/0; Position: D; Date of birth: 17/7/89

Petteri Forsell;

From: VPS; To: IFK Mariehamn; 2009: 12/1; Total: 12/1; Position: M; Date of birth: 16/10/90

Mikko Hyyrynen

From: FF Jaro; To: JJK; 2009: 23/4; Total: 184/47; Position: F; Date of birth: 1/11/77

Juha Pasoja

From: HamKam; To: JJK; 2009: 0/0; Total: 151/19; Position: D; Date of birth: 16/11/76

Jani Tanska

From: FF Jaro; To: VPS; 2009: 20/1; Total: 46/2; Position: D; Date of birth: 29/7/88

Touko Tumanto

From: FC Inter; To: JJK; 2009: 14/0; Total: 84/3; Position: M; Date of birth: 6/3/82

]]> http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/transfer-weekly-week-47-jjk-hire-martonen-as-coach-and-are-atletico-madrid-really-viewing-sasha-anttilainen-as-a-future-replacement-for-sergio-aguero/feed/ 2 http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/finland-2009-in-pictures-part-two/ http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/finland-2009-in-pictures-part-two/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:31:24 +0000 Egan Richardson http://www.nordicfootball.info/?p=4138 In the second part of our look at some of the photos from 2009 in Finland, we focus on the fans. Click photos to enlarge.

TamU fans protest at the Ratina ground staff. Photo by Petteri Lehtonen.

One of the themes of Tampere football has been the struggle by supporters to get decent facilities in which to play and watch the game. The Veikkausliiga season was slated to start on 18 April, but the Ratina pitch had not yet been uncovered, or warmed via the heating system underneath it, and so the game was postponed until the grass could be left uncovered overnight.

This decision was not popular among Tampere’s football lobby. The fans organised the banner to make their displeasure known, using former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen’s memorable phrase ’saatanan tunarit’, which roughly translates as ‘fucking fuckups’, to describe Tampere City Council’s maintenance department.

PoPa fans were in exuberant form this year,  after promotion from Kakkonen in 2008. Their crowds have been very high for a club outside the top flight, averaging 1,087 in 2009, and their contingent of 30 or so supporters, who call themselves Siniveriset or ‘the blue blooded ones’, enjoyed the intimate atmosphere at Tampere’s Tammela Stadium.

Pori football entered the doldrums after the bankruptcy of FC Jazz in 2005, but PoPa have now taken on the mantle of number one club in Pori thanks to their flamboyant player/owner, the much travelled Antti Sumiala. If promotion follows their crowds should ensure a decent Veikkausliiga budget, but if they remain in Ykkönen it could prove difficult to keep the enthusiasm displayed in this photo. Their fans tend to be teenagers, as a lot of Pori people leave the town in their early twenties in search of educational opportunities, so maintaining their support will be crucial in the next few years.

The 1-1 draw at Inter ensured that HJK would start their final day game at home to Jaro with their fate in their own hands. While Inter were holding HJK in Turku, their city rivals TPS could only draw 2-2 away at Mypa, and so HJK ended up needing only a draw against Jaro – which they got. That HJK won the title with two 1-1 draws in their last two games says a lot about the cautious outlook of their coach, Antti Muurinen, who has been heavily criticised by the fans.

The HJK supporters are a disparate bunch, with more factions than Monty Pythin’s struggle for Judean freedom. There is Forza HJK, the official supporters group who tend to wear team shirts and colours, HJK Supporters since 2007, who have their own banners, Sakilaiset, who fancy themselves as quite the casual outfit, S140, representing those non-Sakilaiset fans who like to stand and sing, and often even a flag from a supporters club in Pori.

Sadly, these groups and factions usually only add up to less than a hundred away fans, but at least they now occupy the same section at away matches. This picture captures the disparate nature of the HJK support, united in joy at a crucial moment in their season. Photo by Tero Wester.

Tampere United played their cup games at Tammela this season, and announced a decision to move back to the ground as soon as the facilities can be brought up to scratch. Effectively this means improved VIP areas, as sponsors provide 80% of the budget for most Finnish teams, and Ratina Athletics Stadium offers clean and spacious facilities for corporate schmoozing while Tammela has a shed where they usually keep the lawnmowers. Unfortunately, there is no way for fans to get this close to the action at Ratina, and with no Tammela renovations planned before the start of next season, TamU will once again play their home league matches in a 17,000 capacity bowl, known to football fans as ‘concrete hell’. Photo by Petteri Lehtonen.

Here is TamU’s fan group, Sinikaarti, in the aforementioned concrete hell of Ratina Stadium. Even though Rafinha has sprinted forty yards to get as close as he can to the fans (compared to less than four at Tammela), they are still not within touching distance. The fans gloried in their slogan that ‘Inter never win’, one that seemed to be confirmed by Rafinha’s last minute winner in an enthralling 3-2 victory, but the Turku side was to have the last laugh by winning the Cup final. Rafinha signed for HJK shortly afterwards. Photo by Petteri Lehtonen.

TPS had the highest average attendance in 2009, thanks mainly to massive investment in discounted and free tickets, heavy advertising in the local media, and a comprehensive talent-spotting and community programme, Southwest United. All junior clubs that join the scheme are given assistance, player appearances, ticket offers and coaching help from TPS, and that has ensured they have a lot of young fans.

The financial investment Southwest United requires is underwritten by the Sydän Pelissä group, who own TPS’s professional football operations. More than half of their €3m budget goes on administration and marketing, and the huge losses are covered in the hope that fans like the one in the picture will grow up to be loyal, generous supporters of the club. Photo by Petteri Lehtonen.

Inter fans regard themselves as the bohemian side in Turku, compared to the bourgeois, establishment-friendly TPS. In reality both clubs are run by and for rich benefactors, but the building mythology helps fuel Finnish football’s most keenly contested local rivalry. Photo by Tero Wester.

This banner required a good deal of co-ordination and organisation, and the stewards also helped out. Practice runs had taken place earlier in the day on the Kupittaa pitch, making sure that Finnish football’s biggest ever banner was displayed correctly at the Turku derby on 8 August.

The banner display went like clockwork and looked very impressive indeed, but the limits of Finnish football culture were clearly evident when no singing took place, and the only audible noise was an irritating Veikkausliiga ad for a chain of garages.

Many Finnish grounds rely on goodwill to ensure people pay for their tickets, and PJK’s home is a great example. The fence in the background is the perimeter, that has to keep out the hordes trying to gain entry, and this man seems bewildered at being caught inside of it. Photo by Neulainen Jerkunen from ff2.

Another problem for Finnish football clubs is that many of them play in stadia designed for other sports. In Lahti, the elite football venue hosts cross country skiing, ski-jumping, athletics and swimming, as well as football, and the result is a predictably strange and unsatisfying experience when crowds struggle to hit 3,000. There is no denying how spectacular the ground can look though, as this picture – taken before Tampere United’s game in Lahti on 27 June -  amply demonstrates. Lahti won the game 2-1 with a late winner from Eero Korte.

Finland’s singing fans moved from their previous home in the South eastern corner to the North end of the Olympic Stadium for the Germany game last September, and have grown exponentially since then. The national team’s games have become more interesting as a result of the move, but for some reason the enthusiasm has not yet really trickled down to the domestic game.

Finnish football grounds often lack roofs, toilets, turnstiles, decent football and nice weather, but I have never known one to lack sausages. Mikkelin Urheilupuisto’s hot dog stand is put to good use here by a group of MP fans, although the hardcore prefer to stand in the teeming rain.

The Mikkeli side, best known for being Jussi Jääskeläinen’s former club, gained promotion to Ykkönen this year after relegation in 2006. It is difficult to get promotion from Kakkonen, with only the winner of each regional group going up, and these fans must have thought there was a long season ahead of them at this game against promotion rivals Warkaus JK on 21 May, which they lost 3-0.

MP’s player-coach Juuso Kangaskorpi whipped them into shape, however, and they overtook Warkaus and Gnistan in the last weeks of the season to win their group. Mikkeli football has traditionally been divided along political lines, with MP the ‘white’ club and MiKi the ‘red’, and it will be interesting to see if that distinction fades away a little in the next few years, as the Finnish civil war nears its 100th anniversary.

Helsingfors IFK have a large an active fan group, despite playing in the third tier of Finnish football. The club started again in the lowest division in 2003 after financial difficulties forced them to abandon their Ykkönen place, but they have retained their fanbase. Many HIFK fans prefer football and bandy to ice hockey, and the Stadin Kingit group usually make games they attend a colourful spectacle. They are traditionally a Swedish speaking club, and their banners and chants are bilingual.

HIFK and KTP have had a feisty rivalry in recent years. IFK fans have set off smoke bombs and flares, invaded the pitch, and met with a robust response from the Kotka supporters. This year there was almost a Finnish version of a ‘bubble trip’, with only IFK fans on buses from Helsinki allowed into the away end, and the game passed off relatively peacefully.

Credits: Tero Wester, Petteri Lehtonen, Kari Mattila, Stadin Kingit and futisforum2.

The constant struggle to define the ‘level’ of Finnish football is an often irritating part of discourse on the game here. Wayne Brown was often asked about this during his loan spell at TPS, and he consistently replied that Veikkausliiga was about the same as better League One sides or the lower end of the Championship. He helped TPS to a barnstorming run that very nearly led to a title win, returning after the end of his original loan spell to try and finish the job.

Babatunde Wusu, the TPS striker, plus marker. Photo by Tero Wester.

Wusu is one of the more unlikely professional footballers in Finland. Arriving in 2001 as a voluntary worker at a nursery in Konnevesi, a small village in Central Finland, Wusu had never played organised football before. He was 17, and started kicking a ball about with local team KonnU. Kanavan Pallohait noticed the young Nigerian, and he moved up to Kakkonen where he scored 21 goals to become the top scorer. He moved from there to TPS, where things did not really work out, and on to Ljungskile SK, MP, JJK, and finally back to TPS.

TPS fans were sceptical when he returned after failing in 2003-04, but were won over by his tremendous work rate and improving performances. His humility is remarkable, in comparison to the stereotypical image of a footballer, often talking about his own limitations, personal development and relative lack of experience.

Dickson’s club was subsequently punished for playing the Nigerian striker before he was eligible. He had played for a club in Senegal in May, and was therefore unable to play for his new side until August, and so the Finnish FA reversed KuPS’s 3-0 victory and awarded a 3-0 win to RoPS instead. This had huge implications for the relegation battle, in which both clubs were involved, and KuPS inexplicably won their appeal – a decision that proved crucial in consigning RoPS to the automatic relegation spot.

Jari Litmanen’s second Veikkausliiga season in a row got off to a flying start with a 4-1 victory over Zeddy Saileti’s RoPS. The two veterans have had massively contrasting careers, but both are legends at their clubs. Saileti ended the season as caretaker manager of RoPS after first Valeri Bondarenko and then Mika Lumijärvi were sacked in a disastrous season for the Rovaniemi side, while Litmanen was left to contemplate his options as Lahti narrowly lost their Europa League tie against Club Brugge, and Finland failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. Saileti is now 40 years old, and he played his last game against KuPS on the final day of the season, while Litmanen is 38 and has come to no firm conclusions about what he will do next year.

According to Dagbladet Kongsvinger will be taking on the Tippeliga with a budget of roughly 20 milllion kr next season, which is roughly half of the smallest budget in the league this season. This will no doubt win them quite a few sympathy-votes, and they’re going to need them as their squad looks well short of the required standard. They can also draw confidence from the fact that everyone said the same about Sandefjord before this season began, which of course now looks more than a bit silly.

As the town of Kongsvinger went collectively off the rails in celebrating their heroes, back in the elite again for the first time since 1999, defensive lynchpin Edie Frejd had a bit of a romcom-moment and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the jubilant crowd at the post match-banquet. Unsurprisingly she accepted, giving the Swede even more reason to celebrate. “Life feels really great right now”, he gushed.

“Not everyone gets relegated and promoted the same season”, Tom Nordlie noted wryly as TV2 inevitably asked for his take on Kongsvinger’s promotion. The human marshmallow and occasional manager conceded that he felt touched to see his former club go up, and that since he had been in charge of “21 out of 30 games this season” he felt very much a part of their achievement. Kongsvinger-midfielder Roger Risholt had a slightly different take on it all, telling VG that “I’m not sure we would have gone up with Tom Nordlie in charge, the players were a bit fed up with him when he left”.

Nordlie may have thought that the pitch was greener at Fredrikstad, and maybe it is, but the club’s finances are certainly in the red. Already in considerable doodoo, relegation means Fredrikstad will have to cut their budget by a staggering 50 million kr. The observant reader will notice that this is more than twice Kongsvinger’s projected budget for next season.

A bunch of players are on their way, including names like Raymond Kvisvik and Abgar Barson who haven’t been offered new contracts. Kvisvik was shocked to be left out of Fredrikstad’s squad entirely for the playoff against local rivals Sarpsborg 08, and he displayed all the subtlety of a drunken giraffe as he placed the blame for FFK’s relegation: When asked why Sarpsborg had beaten Fredrikstad he answered “They have players who bleed for the club. They don’t have a single foreign player. In Fredrikstad over half the squad is foreign, and they don’t know the history”. An interesting claim, considering the only Fredrikstad-players who looked vaguely useful this season were Estonian defender Raio Piiroja and Costa Rican midfielder Celso Borges. Kvisvik has since signed for 3. division team Kvik Halden and is unlikely to be seen or heard from ever again.

Fredrikstad’s relegation has sent the local press into a bit of a frenzy, and stories of drinking, in-fighting, administrative intrigue and overall nonsense have emerged. Players fighting, the former manager allegedly showing up for training drunk, men in suits plotting against each other, it’s really very hard to imagine just how much worse Fredrikstad’s season could have gone. And while he’s making a truckload of money, it’s also really very hard to imagine that deep down Tom Nordlie isn’t wishing he had stayed at Kongsvinger after all.

“There is a hell of a lot of horse trading all over the place, and people think about their own position and their own interests,” Enckelman told Svenska YLE. “Maybe those that called me to say they supported me in this election have had a change of heart and not dared to propose me, so they don’t risk their own positions and their chance of getting certain posts.”

“I’m not disappointed with the final result, because I knew beforehand that I was the underdog. I’m disappointed that I drove 400km here and back, and nobody had the backbone to tell me ‘nobody will propose you, don’t come’. That’s what I’m disappointed about, that my friends have betrayed me. It’s the worst thing I know.”

This very public humiliation of Enckelman says all you need to know about this election and electorate. Niinistö’s many qualities will certainly improve Finnish football, and will hopefully lead to a big improvement in Finnish football as he delegates a lot of responsibility to the men Helsingin Sanomat described as ‘Young Eagles’, FA General Secretary Kimmo J Lipponen and Head of Elite football, Petri Jakonen.

Aamulehti described these three as ‘the Dressman guys’, in honour of a cheap high street clothing retailer that almost always has an offer on – pay for two, get three. Lipponen arrived at the FA in January 2008, Jakonen in July this year, and then their fellow Salonian was elected unopposed.

The manner of the opposition to Niinistö, and it’s eventual collapse, revealed much about the terror of many of those inside football that an outsider might threaten their positions. The main argument against him was that he is not a football man, that he has not been involved in the game since his days in the background at SaloPalloilijat, and that an old FA hand should do the job.

Old FA hands tend to owe other old FA hands favours, and when they get elected their priority could be assumed to be rewarding supporters and punishing opponents. Once the inevitability of Niinistö’s election became apparent, many delegates reverted to type, and fell in to line behind the parliamentarian.

His power is expected to be used sparingly, but effectively. His role in the construction of a new pitch in Salo was talked of during the election, and the desperate need for political support for football infrastructure in Finland will keep him busy enough calling and cajoling local power brokers and decision makers as the FA tries to increase the number of winter-ready pitches in the country. That would be the most useful deployment of his reputation, standing and gravitas, and one that was outlined to me by several sources within the FA and league, but whether it turns out alright is another thing entirely.

The Veikkausliiga season ended a few weeks ago but that is no reason for anyone to think there is no footballing life in the darkness of the cold Finnish winter. So rather than starting to watch ice-hockey, keep up to date with the goings-on in Finnish football with NFN’s Transfer Weekly. We’ll provide you with the hard facts, the unreliable gossip and the blatant lies connected with Veikkausliiga.

After indifferent seasons TamU, Jaro and MyPa have been the early birds in the transfer market. The biggest coup so far was snapped up by TamU who signed a one-year deal with Tuomas Haapala. The former HJK midfield bruiser is already TamU’s third signing as Jonas Emet and Kristian Kojola arrived from Jaro a week ago (Had someone said something about TamU’s financial plight?). TamU are, therefore, well on their way to having a strong squad with which to punch below their weight yet again in 2010.

Rather than flexing their imaginary financial muscles, Jaro have taken the opposite approach to the new season. Adding to Emet and Kojola, Mikko Hyyrynen, Jani Tanska (on trial at Sandefjord) and Joonas Laurikainen have all headed for the exit. However, Jaro have also, errr, strengthened their squad with Jani Bäckman (FC Honka) and Tommi Haanpää (SJK). According to some reports the Weekly hopes it hasn’t made up, the captain Jens Portin is on trial at struggling Serie B club Ascoli. The Weekly draws the conclusion that things are looking so bleak in Pietarsaari that rather than staying there, Portin will be more than happy to spend next season sitting in the stands at Serie C stadiums cheering at his brother. Well, who could blame him, beats playing in the Finnish first division in 2011.

The marketing team at MyPa are in the process of devising a new image for the club since last season’s ploy of bring back a few MyPa has-beens didn’t really set the world on fire, not even the small bit that is Anjalankoski. So in order to add some zazz to the club, they decided to sign a couple of dazzling young go-getters in the shape of Konsta Hietanen (FC Lahti) and Pele Koljonen (KuPS).

After seeing their former nemesis TamU sign their former captain, HJK were compelled to retaliate by signing last season’s hot-shot Rafinha, despite the Brazilian reportedly drawing interest from various clubs abroad. It’s been all smirks at the Finnair Stadium after the deal was finalised as now HJK are convinced that they are better than those foreign teams and think that they will most certainly have enough quality to qualify for the Champions League. In real life, they will have close to an unstoppable right flank by Veikkausliiga standards if Muurinen plays Rafinha at right-back.

Thank you and goodbye

As if November wasn’t depressive enough as it is, it’s also a time when many footballers find themselves in the wilderness of unemployment. And it’s no laughing matter to be on the dole at this day and age when all teams are as keen on touching their coffers as shaking hands with a swine-flu patient.

Feeling too good about themselves after winning the title, HJK spat out two players they deemed to be luxuries they can afford others to have. Haapala already found a happy home from Tampere but the former goal-getter Paulus Roiha is still without a club. The Weekly has a hunch, though, that he’ll sign for TPS before the week is over and make HJK seriously regret letting him go when he bangs double-figures next season. Oh, and Jukka Sauso was released as well. Fancy that.

Meanwhile in the bin behind the FC Lahti office, Mika Hänninen has been wondering what has he done to deserve all the bad luck poured on him. Hänninen was such a bright promise in the early naughties when starting out at RoPS. He earned a transfer to HJK but soon became a casualty of Keith Armstrong. Did OK at Lahti for a while until missing the whole of last season through injury and is currently without a club. Well, whatever doesn’t kill you and so on and so forth, the Weekly thinks he’ll bounce back.

Another player who practically missed the whole of last season, despite somehow managing to feature in fifteen matches without anyone noticing, Petri Oravainen will be continuing his trade of being a paradox in Kuopio. The excellent winger who really isn’t any good, will spend next season being frustrated at KuPS after HJK didn’t use the option in his contract.

And if you must know…

A Brazilian called Raul De Araujo arrived from Spartak and signed a one-year deal with Lahti. Looking at Ilkka Mäkelä’s unenthusiastic assessment of the player, one can jump to the conclusions that they probably only realised after pen had been put to paper that the Spartak in question isn’t a team from Moscow but is actually a third division club from Helsinki.

Oh, and Canal Plus commentator Mikko Innanen’s best bud Mika Nurmela will continue shouting at his fellow players angrily for another season at AC Oulu.

Transfers:

Jani Bäckman;

From: FC Honka; To: FF Jaro; 2009: 9/1; Total: 20/2; Position: F; Date of birth: 20/3/88

Jonas Emet

From: FF Jaro; To: Tampere United; 2009: 25/3; Total: 85/7; Position: M; Date of birth: 13/2/88

Tuomas Haapala

From: HJK; To: Tampere United; 2009: 6/0; Total: 190/17; Position: M; Date of birth: 20/4/79

Konsta Hietanen

From: FC Lahti; To: MyPa; 2009: 24/0; Total: 91/7; Position: M; Date of birth: 20/7/84

Kristian Kojola

From: FF Jaro; To: Tampere United; 2009: 26/2; Total: 45/2; Position: D; Date of birth 9/12/86

Pele Koljonen

From: KuPS; To: MyPa; 2009: 21/5; Total: 52/11; Position: F; Date of birth: 25/7/88

Petri Oravainen

From: HJK; To: KuPS; 2009: 15/0; Total: 133/22; Position: M; Date of birth: 21/6/83

Rafinha

From: TamU; To: HJK; 2009: 25/7; Total: 70/9; Position: M/D; Date of birth: 29/6/82

]]> http://www.nordicfootball.info/finland/transfer-weekly-week-46-ff-jaro-tamu-and-mypa-taking-the-spotlight-as-the-transfer-merry-go-round-sets-in-motion/feed/ 7 http://www.nordicfootball.info/norway/rekdals-cup-final-quotes/ http://www.nordicfootball.info/norway/rekdals-cup-final-quotes/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:08:51 +0000 Lars Sivertsen http://www.nordicfootball.info/?p=4078 As every journalist in Norway knows by now: Stick a microphone in front of Aalesund-manager Kjetil Rekdal and he’ll give you a story. The outspoken manager is rarely in the mood for platitudes, and after guiding his team to an unexpected cup-triumph he has been in a rich vein of quote-producing form, even by his considerable standards..

To Tv2, pitchside, moments after the game:

“It’s just totally sick. A fantastic achievement by my team and close to world class coaching by us on the sidelines. The substitutions, the waiting and the way we conducted the match was outstanding. I want to talk up both Frank [Mathiesen], myself and Geir [Hansen] who were decisive in us holding our ground and managing to come back against Molde.”

“There are five-six players of around 20 years of age playing against a team full of Tippeliga-stars. We held our ground and were at times better.”

To Dagbladet, after the official press-conference:

“A lot of people sit on their high horse and have opinions on this and that. But I can take it, I have to live with it”

“People can critizise me, but they have to actually look at the situation. A lot of people don’t. My results, come and discuss them, then we’ll see. There are a lot of people who think they’re world champions, how many titles do they have? Many people talk other people down to put themselves up, I’ve never done that. Looking at it that way it’s fun to sit here again with another trophy in my short coaching-career.”

“Many people wail and shout about my leadership-style. It annoys me. People meddle and opinionate about things when they don’t know what they’re talking about. Watch me at Aalesund then, watch the players and coaches and how they work. Then they can opinionate.”

“I’m not saying it’s unfair, don’t get me wrong. This is a Norwegian thing. I never talk about others. I don’t meddle with what other people are doing, but a lot of people are very eager to meddle with that Rekdal-guy. He’s a coward, he plays cynically, he plays defensively and he’s annoyed all the time. But he isn’t. Far from it.”

Later that night, back in Aalesund, on a stage in front of roughly ten thousand crazed supporters:

“When you win a trophy, it makes you want more. And this will be important next year and in the years to come, to make sure this isn’t the last time. To make sure our progress continues, we finished thirteenth in the Tippeliga which isn’t much to boast about. We have a trophy now, that’s one out of two, now we have to make sure the next time we stand here we may not be celebrating a cup-win.”

Aalesund’s chief executive Henrik Hoff:

“Let’s not get carried away here.”

Highlights
Celebrations

This weekend the streets of Oslo were full of visitors from the West coast dressed in blue-white and orange-blue. But after two nights of committed partying from the crowd, the match itself at first failed to live up to expectations. The initial euphoria of seeing their players walk onto the pitch at Ullevaal quickly gave way to nervousness, and the apprehensive mood in the stands seemed to transmit to the players on the pitch in a first half that never really got going. Molde went ahead through a scruffy goal and there was a sense of anti-climax about it all going into half-time.

The second half started very much in the same vein, but ten minutes in Aalesund’s young midfielder Frederik Carlsen, already on a yellow card, pulled Molde’s Vegard Forren to the ground and earned himself the stupidest red card in recent history. Bizarrely, it was to be the turning point for Aalesund. Whereas the Aalesund-players before had looked nervous and overcome by the occasion, it was now as if they forgot all of that and thought only of playing football and running their socks off.

And that they did. Shorty after the red card a sumptuous through-ball from captain Johan Arneng found Diego Silva in space, the Brazilian appeared to be fouled by the onrushing Molde-keeper but the referee played the advantage and Glenn Roberts was on hand to equalize. Replays showed that Silva dived, and Molde-fans have been making the case that he shoud have been booked and a free-kick awarded. At any rate the score was 1-1, and though Aalesund’s keeper Anders Lindegaard had to pull out some superb saves the ten men of Aalesund also managed to mount some dangerous attacks of their own. There was no trace of their hesitant first half showing, and whereas Molde looked complacent and over-confident there was nothing but determination to be seen on the faces of the players in orange. The story of the rabbit and the tortoise springs to mind.

The 90 minutes came to and end and extra time was needed to settle affairs, which would surely suit the numerically superior Molde. And they did go ahead as Manchester United-bound Mame Briam Diouf rose majestically to meet a corner which, as the Norwegian footballing idiom goes, “came down with snow on it”, and so should probably have been cleared somehow by the defense.

After that goal the game really should have been over. Twenty two minutes into extra time came a moment Molde-fans will no doubt be talking about for a while: Brazilian forward Jose Mota was suddenly clean through with all the time in the world to put the game beyond Aalesund, but he hesitated, dawdled even, and a frantically backtracking AaFk-defender got back in time to disrupt him. Replayed showed it was a penalty and another red card, but the referee missed it. Unfair, unjust, but all the same the symbolism of Mota’s indecision costing him the chance and the desperate AaFk-defender catching up to him was inescapable. The game was summed up in that one moment.

Tor Hogne Aarøy, all 204 centimeters of him, was only just returning from injury and thus started the game on the bench. That would have been an awfully controversial call by Aalesund-manager Kjetil Rekdal if they had lost the final, as the unrealistically tall striker is something of an icon in the city of Aalesund. As it was he came on in the first half of extra time, and his impact was straight out of a cheesy Hollywood-movie. The unfailingly awkward hightower of a man lumbered forward as the ball was played down the right hand-side, and the cross was deflected into the sky. When it came down again no-one could get near Aarøy, him being the tallest man in football and all, and he further cemented his place in Aalesund-folklore by making it 2-2 from close range. Penalties loomed, with Aalesund’s keeper full of confidence after several match-saving stops.

Jose Mota’s day went from bad to worse as the wasteful striker saw his penalty saved by Lindegaard, and that was to be the only miss of the shootout. Manager Kjetil Rekdal couldn’t bear to watch as stalwart defender Amund Skiri stepped up to take the last kick, but the unhinged roar from the orange part of Ullevaal was unmistakable. For the first time in their history Aalesund had won the cup. Cue frantic, uncoordinated celebrations, the kind of naturally graceless scenes of jubilation that can only spring from genuinely uncontrollable joy. Cue Kjetil Rekdal declaring his own genius on national television. Cue Molde-fans desperately blaming the referee. Cue Molde-players turning inwards, knowing all too well it was their own fault. Will had trumped skill and the sheer dedication and determination showed by the ten men of Aalesund made it impossible for anyone but the most deluded of Molde-fans to begrudge them their win.

Well, anyway, that’s all from us at Ullevaal. After an ordinary first half that was a absolutely mental second half and in the end the team that wanted it more won it. A thoroughly deserved win for Aalesund and their fans.

Aalesund players, fans and staff are going absolutely mental!

Amund Skiri can win it for Aalesund.. and he does!!!!! Aalesund win the cup for the first time in their history!!

Pape Pate Diouf.. scores! 4-4.

Demar Phillips for Aalesund now.. scores! 4-3!

Christian Steen makes no mistake for Molde, they’re still in this… 3-3.

Pablo Herrera scores for Aalesund! It’s 3-2 and still advantage AaFk!

Vegard Forren for Molde.. Scores! My that was fine penalty, keeper went the wrong way and the ball went into the top corner.

Johan Arneng now, Aalesund captain, scores as cool as you like, sent the keeper the wrong way, nicely done. 2-1.

Makthar Thioune.. Scores for Molde! 1-1! The senegalese was profoundly booed but kept his cool.

Khari Stephenson now for Aalesund.. Scores! But only just! His penalty crept under Lillebakk who was going the right way.

Jose Mota for Molde.. MISSES! SAVED BY LINDEGAARD!

This, incidentally, is the first ever Norwegian cup final to be settled on penalties.

Penalties coming up now, Aalesund have the momentum and their keeper Lindegaard is flexing muscles in front of his fans..

30 minutes – Huge chances for Molde, but a tired tired Aalesund defense again manage to clear their lines.. and it’s penalties!

28 minutes – Molde try to push forwards but Aalesund clear their lines, up front it’s Aarøy versus the world and the big man can only flick the ball onto nothingness.

27 minutes – Molde have been gutless, complacent and uninspired. Ever since they went a man down Aalesund have been the only team who looked like they really wanted this, and the equalizer is no less than they deserve.

26 minutes – And Aarøy almost makes it 3-2! A clever cross from Phillips evades everyone but Aarøy’s finish isn’t quite sharp enough.

25 minutes – To say the orange half of Ullevaal just went nuts would be a gross understatement, really, there’s no vocabulary for what just happened over there.

24 minutes – THERE IT IS! 2-2! And who else than Tor Hogne Aarøy!! The ludicrously tall forward rises majestically to meet a cross and there is nothing anyone can do!

23 minutes – A free kick in a good position is wasted by Aalesund, possibly because Thioune was standing far too close to the ball. Kjetil Rekdal is all sorts of annoyed. Even more than usual.

22 minutes – Aalesund go close again! This time a volley from Stephenson that goes just over the bar!

21 minutes – Oh my!x2 Down the other end Jose Mota is clean through, but seems to almost fall asleep with the ball at his feet and an Aalesund-defender rushes back and makes the tackle. That was bizarre.

20 minutes – Oh my! A sublime volley from Jonathan Parr ALMOST makes it 2-2, what a moment that would have been!

20 minutes – It’s long hoofs to Aarøy now from Aalesund, but so far it isn’t working.

18 minutes – Big big save again from the Aalesund-keeper as he denies Pape Pate Diouf.

17 minutes – Aarøy attempts to latch onto a through-ball, but really, that kind of stuff isn’t his thing.

16 minutes – The second half of extra time kicks off, and this is a huge fifteen minutes ahead for Aalesund, can they overcome tiredness and the numerical disadvantage? Can they still get something out of their first ever cup final?

The first half of extra time comes to an end and there was something thuddingly predictable about the way it panned out. The ten men of Aalesund have put in an almighty effort but this surely must be going Molde’s way..

16 minutes – ..aand he’s back on, running just fine. Lovely.

15 minutes – Molde have a corner as Thioune appear to be off for good, with strain, cramp or just general tiredness. Maybe the rest of them can play some football now?

14 minutes – The stretcher is on, but lo and behold Thioune can walk again. Who’d have thunk it. If he comes back onto the pitch the boing will split eardrums.

13 minutes – ..and Thioune is down yet again. Here come the physios. Really, he’s a lovely player, but it’s hard to like someone who behaves like this.

11 minutes – Tired, demoralized, surely there’s no way back into this for Aalesund? Diego Silva, who looks absolutely knackered, is off and Tor Hogne Aarøy is on. At the same time Trond Fredriksen is taken off and Demar Phillips comes on. One very tall man and one very fast man, is this the way to go for Aalesund?

9 minutes – Now that Molde are in the lead Thioune is suddenly in severe pain. Rekdal, AaFk-fans, really everyone not wearing blue, are deeply unimpressed.

7 minutes – Big players produce in big games, and Mame Biram Diouf is certainly a big player by that logic. And speaking of big people, Tor Hogne Aarøy looks to be hulking his way towards the bench, is he coming on? All 203 centimeters of him?

6 minutes – It was an almighty leap by Diouf to get to the ball, but Kjetil Rekdal will feel that a corner hit that high into the air should be cleared comfortably by the defense..

5 minutes – Johan Arneng has a go but it’s a fairly comfortable save. Up the other end Molde earn themselves a corner.. And it’s in! 2-1 Corner is floated in but AaFk can’t clear it and it’s Mame Biram Diouf again!

4 minutes – Diego Silva, who must be having the game of his life, draws a free-kick for Aalesund about 30 yards out..

2 minutes – Remarkably, Aalesund are taking the game to Molde, but the boys in blue have pace to burn up front so AaFk have to be very very careful.

Extra time is on, wireless still playing tricks on us all we struggle on.

Michael Jackson is screeching “Beat it” from the speakers and people are dancing half-heartedly in an effort to stay warm. The players have gone indoors for the short break before extra time. After the fairly underwhelming first half that was a superb offering in the second, but can the tired ten men of Aalesund possibly get anything from the extra thirty minutes?

93 minutes – Aalesund break dangerously but Pablo Herrera has no help. Full time, 1-1, extra time..

91 minutes – The Molde-manager wisely takes off Magne Hoseth before he gets himself sent off. Jose Mota is on. The Aalesund-keeper, incidentally, is a dead ringer for newly crowned Norwegian footballer of the year Brede Hangeland.

90 minutes – Magne Hoseth, on a yellow card, is mouthing off. Not clever, but he gets away with it. Three minutes of added time.

89 minutes – Molde have a corner and there is much excitement, but it suffers a similar fate.

87 minutes – Gripping stuff this, Aalesund need to get forwards because there is no way extra time can end well for them. And there they win a corner, all of Ullevaal have taken to their feet, but the delivery is sadly very poor.

83 minutes – Fantastic save by Aalesund-keeper Lindegaard after Molde-captain Daniel Berg Hestad let rip from twenty yards. And shortly after Lindegaard is again at hand to clear up an almighty air-kick in the AaFk-defense. Their heroic fightback has cost Aalesund dear in terms of energy and they are, understandably, starting to look tired.

81 minutes – 25 109 punters at Ullevaal today, that’s not at all far off a full house.

78 minutes – The ten men of Aalesund are putting up a terrific fight now, and no matter what happens they can at least be pleased with their efforts. This is the exact opposite of what they were doing in the first half.

76 minutes – Again it’s Diego Silva for Aalesund who carves out a chance for himself, but he shoots wide. Molde look complacent, they clock may be working for them against ten men but Aalesund are dangerous, a 1-1 they really shouldn’t get too comfortable.

75 minutes – Diego Silva is still making a good first of it for Aalesund but he is now very very isolated up front.

72 minutes – On the sidelines Rekdal is looking pensive, while the still-warming-up Aarøy looks brooding.

71 minutes – It seems like the burst of energy Aalesund got from their goal has gone now and it’s all Molde. If this continues it’s just a matter of when Molde scores, not if.

69 minutes – A moment of pretty football there, with a pass from the outside of Hoseth’s boot finding Thioune out wide, Thioune goes past his man with ease and crosses but no one can get to it.

68 minutes – Aalesunds’ problem now is that with one man down they can’t really push forward, but extra-time really doesn’t suit them either.

66 minutes – Having said that, Molde are finding more space than before and Hoseth goes close after some nice build-up play.

64 minutes – In spite of their numerical disadvantage Aalesund are putting up a much better fight than they did in the first half. That goal seems to have given them belief.

62 minutes – Sensing that things are getting out of hand, Molde manager Kjell Jonevret puts on defensive midfielder Thomas Holm in place of winger Mattias Mostrøm.

61 minutes – The sending off has really opened the game up. Molde now look dangerous whenever they venture forwards, while Aalesund still somehow manage to mount attacks that look more menacing than anything they did in the first half.

60 minutes – This is interesting from Rekdal, goalscorer Glenn Roberts is substituted and Costa Rican Pablo Herrera is on. Probably to re-inforce the midfield which has been understaffed since Carlsen’s moment of stupidity.

59 minutes – And there Molde have a goal disallowed! This match really has gone a bit crazy.

57 minutes – The word from those who are watching re-plays is that Silva actually dived when he could have scored, so actually Roberts rescued him from potential embarrassment.

56 minutes – That goal, however strange and unexpected, has really gotten the Aalesund-fans going and now it’s Molde who look a bit shocked.

55 minutes – And what a strange situation is was, Silva looked like he was fouled by the Molde-keeper and if the referee hadn’t played advantage and Roberts scored it could well have been a penalty and a sending off. Should Molde also be down to ten men?

53 minutes – Goal! 1-1! Would you believe it! That makes no sense whatsoever. Molde were toying with Aalesund after the sending off, but suddenly Diego Silva is played through on goal, he is fouled by the onrushing Molde-keeper but Glenn Roberts is on hand to score!

51 minutes – Magne Hoseth casually lumps the resulting free-kick into the stands. Charitable stuff, but probably not what his manager was looking for.

50 minutes – RED CARD! Disaster for Aalesund as young midfielder Fredrik Carlsen has been sent off for a second yellow. That really was a suicidal challenge, already on a booking the youngster attempted to rugby-tackle a Molde-player who was driving forwards with the ball.

47 minutes – Aalesund could really use a hand from the bright orange army in the stands, but the usually enthusiastic bunch aren’t really making that much noise now.

45 minutes – As the second half kicks off there are no changes to Aalesund, Kjetil Rekdal has given the 11 that played ther first half a chance to show that they can do better.

Half-time – I’m off to have some coffee and reheat my fingers. Big team-talk for Kjetil Rekdal this, his team needs to at least have a go in the second half because so far they’ve been underwhelming. The Aalesund-players won’t want to go home feeling they haven’t done all they could, but that’s the story so far. Molde look very comfortable.

45 minutes – Aalesund-captain Johan Arneng booked for a tackle on Thioune. Referee looking to assert his authority on the game now.

44 minutes – Aalesund are just trying to get to half-time without conceding another now. Molde have a corner that is initially fumbled by the AaFk keeper but it eventually goes into touch.

43 minutes – Molde are looking very comfortable here while Aalesund struggle to create anything. Expect a thunderous team-talk in the AaFk dressing room in a few minutes.

41 minutes – Mame Biram Diouf rounds a defender elegantly on the left flank but then kicks the ball randomly into touch. Hmm. Sir Alex will be unimpressed.

40 minutes – Molde-captain Daniel Berg Hestad is booked for a tackle on Diego Silva.

39 minutes – Rekdal is prowling the touchline looking annoyed. Time for him to prove he’s more than just a big mouth.

36 minutes – Substitution Molde, stand-in left-back Øyvind Gjerde has picked up a knock and Marcus Andreasson comes on.

36 minutes – Mame Biram Diouf goes close again, he collects a long ball, the AaFk-defenders stand off but his shot goes wide.

33 minutes – Glenn Robers sends a dangerous ball into the Molde-box and the defender doesn’t get it, but there’s no orange striker on hand to capitalize. AaFk nearly score from the resulting corner with Khari Stephenson heading over. Much better this from Rekdal’s men.

32 minutes – Kjetil Rekdal has sent unrealistically tall striker Tor Hogne Aarøy to do some warm-ups. Well, he needs to do something.

29 minutes – The goal seems to have settled Molde’s nerves, they’re passing the ball around as comfortably as they have done all season and now it’s their fans who are making the noise.

28 minutes – That really is a blow for Aalesund, their plan of just containing Molde can now be well and truly scrapped, and it seemed a soft goal to give away too.

26 minutes – 1-0! And it’s Mame Biram Diouf! A free-kick is floated into the AaFk box, and for once their defending is a bit shoddy and the Manchester United-owned forward is on the spot to give his team the lead.

25 minutes – Kjetil Rekdal is giving everyone the stink-eye now. He should be reasonably pleased though, AaFk are doing a good job of containing Molde and they actually look dangerous when they counter.

24 minutes – Molde’s midfield maestro Makthar Thioune is tackled but the ref let’s the game play on, Thioune is very very annoyed. Molde really don’t need their best player to loose his cool or his focus here.

23 minutes – Ok, ok, we’ve never actually been on a date. Any of us.

22 minutes – Molde are still prodding and probing without getting anywhere, a bit like a member of the NFN editorial-staff on a date.

20 minutes – Aalesund-manager Kjetil Rekdal gives his opposite number Kjell Jonevret the stink-eye. This game needs a goal to shake things up, both on and off the pitch.

17 minutes – The delivery is awful, and even though Mame Biram Diouf falls over whilst trying to clear the thing nothing happens.

16 minutes – Magne Hoseth is booked for a push on Diego Silva, who was on his way into a dangerous position. Molde re-group to defend the free-kick..

14 minutes – The atmosphere at Ullevaal is good but not electric, there are nerves in the stands as well as on the pitch. This time it’s Thioune who needs some comforting from the physio and his teammate Magne Hoseth gives the ref some lip, the ref is predictably unimpressed.

12 minutes – Magne Hoseth puts a Molde free-kick dangerously into the area but neither Diouf can get to it. In the move afterwards Thioune is possibly fouled on the edge of Aalesund’s area but he did appear to go down a bit easily and the ref isn’t having it.

10 minutes – Molde are starting to get their passing-game on and they work their way down the right flank. The cross is blocked to a corner, but nothing comes of it.

8 minutes – Aalesund-striker Glenn Roberts gets roughed up a bit by Molde-defender Christian Steen, and needs some kind words from the physio.

5 minutes – The game looks to be panning out as expected, with Molde trying to get the ball down and pass it around while Aalesund are defending resolutely and look to break with pace.

4 minutes – Pape Pate Diouf is played through down Molde’s right flank but is flagged offside. Again, both sides look a bit nervy.

2 minutes – Aalesund really should have scored, and not doing so may cost them dearly. Nervy opening so far.

0 minutes – Molde free-kick in decent position for a cross, but nothing comes of it, at the other end there is a major mix-up in the Mode defense and Aafk really should have gone ahead, but the chances is wasted.

13:15 – The unreliable wireless is making this tricky, but teams emerge from the tunnel, there is much noise, national anthem has been sung and the game has kicked off.

End of Preamble

13:08 – The wireless here at Ullevaal aren’t doing us any favors and the touchpad on my mac is responding very reluctantly to my fingers, possibly because they are very cold indeed. This is blogging under duress, people.

13:05 – Remember Safri Duo? That vaguely catchy drum-techno nonsense the kids were wild about some ten years ago? Well, it’s making a comeback from the Ullevaal speakers and the crowd are clapping merrily along. Hopefully just to keep their hands warm.

13:02 – Nevermind that about the kinds looking like the players in question, Makthar Thioune was represented by a blonde white kid and Daniel Berg Hestad was a girl.

13:01 – Teams are being read out to the theme from Pirates of the caribbean and kids who look vaguely like the players are running out onto the pitch and taking up positions in appropriate formations. This is very strange.

12:58 – @gotvassli on twitter notes re. Aalesunds’ apparent fan-superiority that “there is a reason most survival-suits are orange”. He might be on to something. If you do the whole twitter thing you can get in touch by writing to @fjordball

12:54 – Aalesunds’ cup final song is by far the catchier. The question is, will all these advantages off the pitch negate the fact that Molde have the better team?

12:52 – This could be Mame Biram Diouf’s last game in Norway before he’s off to Manchester United, though there is of course a chance Sir. Alex will decide to give him another season in Norway. At any rate, big players produce in big games and the Senegalese forward will no doubt be keen to show that he belongs in that category.

12:48 – There is much singing and waving of scarves, currently a Molde-song is being blasted from the speakers and the AaFK bunch are looking a bit sheepish. As a neutral observer though, the AaFK-fans have been the liveliest in the streets of Oslo this weekend.

12:39 – It’s cold, but this is Norway in November so cold is the default position. The crowd are doing mexican waves to keep warm, the press-pack are drinking coffee.

Questions or comments below or to lars@nordicfootball.info

12:36 – The absence of Aarøy from AaFK’s starting lineup will no doubt be a talking-point, but the preposterously tall forward has only recently shrugged off an injury and AaFk-manager Kjetil Rekdal hinted in the week that it might be better to use that biggest of big men as an impact-sub. For Molde their outstanding left-back Knut Olav Rindarøy misses out through injury, heartbreaking for him but the veteran Øyvind Gjerde will no doubt prove a competent replacement.

12:31 – Good morning ladies and gents, the weather is cold and the teams are just in:

Molde: Lillebakk – Vatshaug, Steen, Forren, Gjerde – Thioune, Berg Hestad, Hoseth – Mostrøm, M.B. Diouf, P.P. Diouf

Bench: Larsen, Andreasson, Holm, Skjølsvik, Tomaz jr, Mota, Ertsås

AaFK: Lindegaard – Jalasto, Tollås, Skiri, Parr – Arneng, Carlsen, Fredriksen, Stephenson – Roberts, Silva

Bench: Grytebust, Aarøy, Herrera, Phillips, Orry Larsen, Fløtre, Mathiesen

Fredrikstad released striker Martin Wiig back in 2006, and as tends to happen with decent players who get released by Fredrikstad he was snapped up by Sarpsborg 08. The decision to release him must have felt a bit silly last night, as while FFK’s forwards looked like they could have played another five hours of football without finding the net Martin Wiig scored two very nice goals indeed, and the 2-0 scoreline in Sarpsborg’s favor means Fredrikstad will be facing the likes of Løv-Ham and Follo next season. “It was great to score two goals against the club that didn’t believe in me,” Wiig admitted after the game, and along with fellow FFK-rejects Bjørnar Johannesen, Øyvind Hoås and Michael Røn the win must have ment that much more to him than to the rest of the Sarpsborg-crowd.

There’s been a deluge of people expressing how unbelievable it is that Fredrikstad have managed to get themselves relegated, with former manager Anders Grönhagen saying he’s “shocked” and former sporting director Tor Kristian Karlsen sparing a thought for the fans: “It’s sad for the fans and the good people at the club,” he told TV2. No doubt several of Fredrikstad’s better players will be looking to move now, with Celso Borges and Raio Piiroja in particular being players who have better things to do than play in the Adeccoliga.

The other playoff-game saw Kongsvinger further their superb home-record this season by beating Sogndal 3-1. After a fine first 45 minutes where they took a 2-1 lead, Kongsvinger lost the plot a bit and had a very nervy second half that could have seen all their good work undone. It didn’t however and when they scored another to make it 3-1 with a minute left of the clock it was time to celebrate. The news that Fredrikstad had goofed up agaisnt Sarpsborg 08 won’t have done anything to dampen the mood in the Kongsvinger-camp either. The playoff-final will be a two-legged affair, with Sarpsborg hosting Kongsvinger the 9. November and the return leg at Kongsvinger being played on 12. November.

LEVADIA Tallinn’s training ground is not an easy place to find. Off the northern edge of most tourist maps of Tallinn, close to the Pirita beaches, getting to Marjamäe can seem a little bit of a challenge to the first time visitor. There is usually not much reason to visit, unless you are a scout for rival team or wanting to tap up a young prospect. Marjamäe is comfortable enough, but it is not the most auspicious football venue in Tallinn.

The picturesque Kadriorg Stadium, magnificent Soviet-era bowl-like Kalev Stadium, and the recently constructed A Le Coq Arena at Lillekula all make for more dramatic venues, but Marjamäe’s pitch is dry and the Baltic League tie against Lithuanian side FK Tauras Taurage was switched at short notice from Levadia’s usual home ground at Kadriorg, which was waterlogged.

It was a surprise to see around 50 Tauras fans setting out their banners on arrival. They had travelled over 500km for a 2pm kick-off on a weekday, in a competition that does not even offer a spot in Europe for the winners. This kind of fanaticism is common in Baltic League games, which seem to have a high percentage of active supporters even if the total number of spectators is low.

“People want to see their team beat sides from the other Baltic countries,” explained Baltic League CEO Christian Happel as the teams warmed up at Marjamäe. “20 years ago there were tanks on the streets, and people were getting killed in Lithuania, and these people really want to show that they are here and they are free.”

The political and cultural dimensions of the Baltic League seem to bubble under the surface of the football. In pure sporting terms it provides competitive games for the best clubs against a higher standard of opposition than is available domestically, but the vision and sense of shared destiny among the Baltic countries offer this competition a pull that other transnational competitions, such as the recently mooted and geographically non-contiguous Belgian-Portuguese-Norwegian-Scottish-Dutch Atlantic League, would have to work to achieve.

This becomes abundantly clear when the teams run out and the Baltic League hymn – entitled ‘The Baltics Are Waking Up!, it is a tri-lingual anthem composed for the 50^th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the Baltic Way protest at Soviet occupation in which hundreds of thousands of people linked hands to form a chain across the Baltic countries – blares tinnily out of the speakers. The sound drifts away and the tune is difficult to make out, but here is a sample of the lyrics to give an idea the spirit the Baltic League is trying to invoke:

Three sisters stand by the coast of sea
They are pressed by weakness and tiredness.
Their lands and spirits crushed,
And the honour and sense of three nations.

But in towers the bells of destiny toll,
And the sea starts to wave.
Three sisters wake up from sleep,
Come to stand for themselves.

Within Estonia some clubs are more equal than others. Levadia have gone 61 games without defeat, recently clinched their fourth Estonian title in a row, and have won seven titles in their eleven year history. Founded by metals magnate Viktor Levada and heavily subsidised by his firm, their main rivals are Flora Tallinn. Flora have also won seven titles, were founded in 1990, and are owned by Estonian FA President, author and Estonian intellectual, Aivar Pohlak.

Levadia won their match 3-0, with a cameo performance from Finnish substitute Tomi Saarelma, and later in the day Flora Tallinn won their game against Lithuanian side FK Šiauliai 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko. Both Lithuanian sides fought quite hard and brought a lot of fans, and Flora coach Tarmo Rüütli – who also coaches the Estonian national team – analysed the significance of the competition for Estonian football.

“I think we have different cultures in Lithuania and Latvia. We did not have a lot of contact in the Soviet period, as Lithuania played in the top soviet division and Latvia played in the First Division, we lost contact with high level football. They have more traditions and more culture, but we have made a small step forward in the last five years. If you compare to Latvia and Lithuania, we were a bit lower, but now in national team games and in European club competitions we are coming a bit closer.”

The Baltic League – which is a knock-out cup competition, not a league, but is named to avoid confusion with the Baltic Cup that decides the best Baltic national team – will continue next April at the Quarter Final stage.

Fredrikstad – Sarpsborg 08

A playoff match like this is nerve-wrecking under the best of circumstances, but for Fredrikstad the mere possibility of being sent down to the Adeccoliga by local rivals Sarprsborg must be harrowing. Having finished runners-up in the Tippeliga last season everything has gone very pear-shaped indeed for FFK this time around, and if it hadn’t been for the late Tom Nordlie-fuelled revival they probably would have gotten relegated outright.

Last season Fredrikstad had an uncanny ability to turn tight games in their favor, but until Nordlie’s arrival their 2009-campaign was a story of the complete opposite happening, over and over again. There are plenty of quality players in their squad, Costa Rican midfielder Celso Borges for one is a player who won’t be playing in Norway for long, and with Tom Nordlie giving the team energy and a sense of urgency that was lacking earlier FFK are overwhelming favorites to get through book their place in the 2010 Tippeliga.

They’ll be forced to walk a very tight rope though, as local rivals Sarpsborg 08 will be doing absolutely everything in their power to get one over their more glamorous neighbors. At least four of Sarpsborg’s regular starters are former Fredrikstad players and defender Alexander Forsberg is even the son of one of Fredrikstad’s financial backers. This is little brother versus big brother, and even though big brother is a better team by a considerable margin a minor slip-up could be enough to doom them to Adeccoliga-ootball and eternal humiliation for their fans.

Home win

Kongsvinger – Sogndal

From 1983 to 1999 Kongsvinger payed their football at the highest level of Norweigan football, but their relegation in 99 signaled the start of a very meagre decade. But since Tom Nordlie rocked up at the club last season when they were heading for relegation to the obscure 2. division things have been looking up. He saved them from relegation and had them on course for at least a playoff-spot when Fredrikstad prized him away, and they managed to hang on to that spot in the closing stages of the season. If they do manage to beat Sogndal they’ll most likely come up against the man who dragged them out of the mud and into this playoff in the first place, which would of course add a new dimension to the whole thing.

Sogndal also have a solid Tippeliga-history, though they’ve been a bit of a bungee-team – moving between the Tippeliga and the Adeccoliga with alarming frequency. As a club they’re probably best known for their so-bad-it’s-brilliant supporter-song, “Stao no pao”, and for being the club that gave the world Jostein Flo, Tore Andre Flo, Håvard Flo and indeed Jarle Flo. These have all retired now of course, but have no fear, both Ulrik and Per Egil Flo are Sogndal-regulars so the next Flo-generation are well on their way.

With a superb home-record (13-0-2) this season you would expect Kongsvinger to book a thrilling showdown with their former manager, but Sogndal are a jammy bunch who have only lost once away from home all year so it could be very very tight. Extra time and penalties seems a very real possibility.

Home win

Norway is one of the few countries in Europe where the cup final is still the biggest club-game of the calendar, and the spectacle certainly won’t suffer from the fact that this time around it’s a local derby. Both the quarter and semi-final rounds were jam-packed with drama and general craziness, and the punters should prepare for more of the same as the blue and orange armies of Molde and Aalesund descend on the nation’s capital.

Molde have been the people’s team this season, with their swashbuckling style a perfect antidote to Rosenborg’s relentless yet unimaginative league dominance. With attacking talent like Manchester United-bound Mame Biram Diouf, the magnificent Makhtar Thioune and metrosexual midfielder Magne Hoseth amongst their ranks, Molde scored more goals than any other team in the league this season and rarely fail to bring the flair and flash when they go out to play football. There is widespread agreement that Molde deserve a trophy for their efforts this season and they are clear favorites to triumph on the day.

Standing in their way however are bitter local rivals Aalesund, managed by the entertainingly confrontational yet undeniably canny Kjetil Rekdal and spearheaded by preposterously tall striker Tor Hogne Aarøy. In spite of finishing a lowly 13th Aalesund are not a team to be messed with, and if they get it right on the day they are more than capable of giving their more flashy opponents a good run for their money.

It should be one heck of a competition and NFN will be there at Ullevaal, providing concise yet imaginative commentary live on these here hallowed pages. Sunday 8th November, kick-off 13:15 CET with pre-match preamble some time before that. Be here or be rectangular.

The battle for fourth was the only point of interest going into this weekend, and it was settled in appropriately underwhelming fashion. Odd Grenland got a fortunate 1-1 draw up North against a Bodø/Glimt-side that put in one of their least inept performances of the season, which only serves to drive home the depressing fact that their relegation was avoidable. Even though it ultimately ended in failure, Glimt put up an admirable fight in spite of financial woes and a squad full of players who are either very old or not very good. As for Odd, their fourth place is nothing short of remarkable. Even though they are a deeply unlikable bunch they deserve a whole lot of credit for what they’ve done in their first season back in the league.

Odd dropping points up North meant that Brann could have gone above them and possibly (depending on who wins the cup) booked a place in Europe. All they had to do was beat a nothing to play for Rosenborg at home, but as we’ve seen RBK don’t really do the whole losing-thing. The 1-1 draw ensured that the champions at least remained undefeated on the road this season and that the embarrassing affair against Start remained the only blotch on their league-record. Rade Prica struck a ridiculously sweet goal for the second week running, a strike that both earned him the title of top-scorer in the Tippeliga and underlined his worthiness of it.

Down in the other end of the league, Lyn redefined the concept of going out with a whimper by losing 5-0 at home to Fredrikstad, a team that before this had only won away from home once all year. Their total of 16 points from 30 games is beyond pathetic, and only Start’s diabolical 2001-campaign yielded fewer points in the Tippeliga this decade. Which is saying something, since every other season this decade has consisted of 26 rounds, not 30. If they can find enough money to stay in business Lyn will now attempt to start over in the Adeccoliga with a team made up almost entirely of youngsters, which is a noble intention indeed but also one that may backfire as the Adeccoliga is a highly competitive environment, if less frenetic than the Tippeliga. Fredrikstad face a potentially tricky playoff, first against bitter local rivals Sarpsborg on Friday and then against the winner of a testy tie between Sogndal and Kongsvinger. They have the quality to persevere, but in one-off games like this anything could happen.

Accountants at Viking stadion were holding their breaths during Viking’s pointless encounter with Tromsø, as a single goal from striker Peter Ijeh would mean an outlay of 125 000 kr. This because in addition to Ijeh’s tasty goal-bonus of 25 000, there is also a 100 000 kr bonus in his contract that is to be paid out if he scores ten goals or more. Stuck on nine, Ijeh hilariously missed a free header from five yards as Viking beat Tromsø 1-0. Great success.

If Molde weren’t already favorites for their upcoming cup final against Aalesund then they certainly are now, as their emphatic 3-0 win over Lillestrøm showed that they are on fine form. Even without their two best players Makhtar Thioune and captain Daniel Berg Hestad they were superb, and manager Kjell Jonevret actually has a bit of a selection-headache ahead of the big day with more than 11 players looking worthy of a spot in the starting lineup.

Aalesund on the other hand aren’t quite there yet and only drew 1-1 with Strømsgodset. “We score one goal on twelve-thirteen chances and I’m very unhappy about that. This is something we’ve struggled with all season, we don’t put away our chances and we concede from very little,” complained permanently annoyed manager Kjetil Rekdal after the game, and the frontrunner for NFN’s prestigious Man of the year-award has a lot of work to do if he’s going to guide Aalesund to victory over local rivals Molde this Sunday.

Down South Start finished their season somewhat surprisingly with a win, as Martin Andresen’s Vålerenga continue to struggle with the jinx NFN’s endorsement seems to have put upon them. Having been on a bit of a downward spiral the 2-0 win will probably mean quite a lot to the general mood in the Start-camp. Andresen on the other hand still have plenty of things to ponder, even if his job is still safe.

Sandefjord’s mission of staying up has been accomplished and then some, and they didn’t look all that bothered as they were bowled over by Stabæk to the tune of a 3-1 home-defeat. After their squad was ravaged by transfers last winter Stabæk are finally starting to look like a coherent unit again, and unless major changes are forced upon them this winter as well they should be ready to make proper run at the title in 2010.

TamU had gone ahead through Jonne Hjelm in the 11th minute, after the 21 year old striker picked up Kangaskolkka’s flick-on when Ari Nyman made a mess of his attempted clearance. Hjelm raced onto the loose ball and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving goalkeeper David Monsalve little chance.

Inter gradually increased the pressure and eventually equalised just before half time, when Veikkausliiga’s least-loved striker Timo Furuholm nodded the ball down to Kennedy Nwanganga, who shot through a crowd of players past Aleksei Kangaskolkka’s despairing attempt at a goal line clearance.

The second half was a tense affair, with Inter clearly having the upper hand but missing several chances to go ahead. Furuholm drew derision from the loud contingent of TamU fans, and adulation from the Inter end, with his near-constant niggling fouls. Mononen was shoved over on the touchline, Pohja booted in the chest, and Furuholm’s expressive body language ensured he was the centre of attention.

There was a hint of inevitability, then, about the winner. It arrived via a corner, but Furuholm wasn’t complaining after having a couple of chances well saved by TamU’s goalkeeper Mikko Kavén.

“I’m happy, it’s a good end to the season,” the former Musan Salama striker claimed. “The season hasn’t gone so well, but this is good because we get to play in Europe now. It feels good to be the goalscorer, but then it’s my job to do that.”

As Inter’s players cavorted around the pitch celebrating their second trophy in two years, manager Job Dragtsma was asked to reflect on Inter’s season, which went much less smoothly than 2008.

“Of course we wanted to do something in the league, but we had to change the whole team!” Inter manger Job Dragtsma told YLE after the final whistle.  “We didn’t do too well, and in the end wít was important to make sure we got into Europe, and nice to win a trophy, and this was the only trophy we could win.”

Inter’s Canadian goalkeeper David Monsalve was one of the more jubilant players, after wresting the number one spot from Sierra Leonian Patrick Bantamoi. Inter’s management feel that Monsalve is a little more calm and collected than Bantamoi, who has made one or two crucial errors this season in among his usual excellent performances, and he made a couple of routine but important saves late on from Antti Pohja. Inter currently have two young, in-form goalkeepers, and their squad is finally settling down into the rhythm Dragtsma hoped for. They could be dark horses next year, but of course that will depend on the vagaries of the winter transfer market.

As for TamU, their season has been a series of disappointments after the League Cup victory in April. Ari Hjelm has brought on some exciting young talent, and much will depend on how many of those players remain in Tampere as the club’s budget is reduced to a more realistic level. There will be no European football to help the financial calculations or entice players to sign, but with young players like Hjelm, Kangaskolkka, Ruuth, Mononen, Pirinen and Karvonen gaining crucial experience this year, the outlook  could be better than expected, depending on how many of those players remain in Tampere for 2010.