Blog #11 – Helsinki, Game Day
Wed, Sept 12, 2007

It is now 12:30pm and I am at the lobby of the Hilton Helsinki Strand, the hotel of the Polish Team.  The team just left for a short walk.

Yesterday, I arrived in Helsinki at 6:20 pm and as I waited for my bag, I saw several huge PUMA bags and metal boxes.  It was all the equipment of the Polish team.  Then I noticed two of the Federation officials quickly unloading it.  I offered to help.  They rushed everything to a waiting truck to get it to the training.

As the plane left Germany, Marta Alf glanced out the window and saw all the equipment sitting on a truck.  Lufthansa sent it on the next flight , which was the flight I was on.

Meanwhile, the team was at the stadium and borrowing clothes to train in from the Finnish National Team.  Poland is with PUMA and Finland with ADIDAS and although the President of PUMA Poland had given the green light, the last thing they needed was to get pictures of the Polish team training in the Finnish uniform.

I went to the hotel, dropped of my bag and then taxied to the Olympic Stadium for the 7pm training.  The security would not let me in.  I walked towards the bus and saw Marta and she helped me into the stadium to observe the training.

The truck had arrived just after the Finnish clothing had been distributed and the players quickly changed.   There was a bit of a heated discussion since the Polish players had come into the Finnish (empty) locker room to pick up and drop off the clothing. 

What I noticed first about Finland and the Finnish is that it is very expensive (the same or more as the UK), they support their neighbors and have mostly Volvo taxi’s.  The first few people I came into contact with were not very flexible ie.  the security with both myself and the Polish staff were a bit rigid.  They are like ice, not much to show expression.

The training session was on the stadium field at the same time as the kick off of the match 7:00pm.

Training Session – Sept , 11, 2007
Rondo – 3 groups
Goalkeepers with Frans and Andreyz
Running warm-up with coordination and stretching
Possession – 6V6 plus 3 kaatzers (bouncers) on each team, replace the man on the outside if you play him the ball
Combination’s to goal – 11 to 8 to 7  or 7 to 6 to 11 (played a combo with 2 or 5) and cross, 9/10 or 6/8 went to goal along with the 11 or 7.  Coach Leo talked about how tall they were and to find the ball to the 1rst post or pull it back to the 18 box for a shot.
Game 11V11 – ¾ field

First team line-up  for the game at training -

Polish Team for 11V11
#1 Artur Boruc (Celtic FC)
# 5 Marcin Wasilewski(RSC Anderlecht), #4 Mariusz Jop(FK Moskva), #3Michał Żewłakow(Olympiacos CFP), #2 Arkadiusz Głowacki (Wisła Kraków)

#6 Dariusz Dudka (Wisła Kraków),# #8 Mariusz Lewandowski (FC Shakhtar Donetsk)

#7 Jakub Błaszczykowski (BV Borussia Dortmund), 11 Jacek Krzynówek (VFL Wolfsburg), #10 Maciej Żurawski

#9 Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton FC)

Changes for the 2nd ½ of the game –

# 9Marek Saganowski (Southampton FC)  for Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton FC)#9

#10 Euzebiusz Smolarek (Real Racing Club Santander) #10 Maciej Żurawski (Celtic FC)

#2 Wojciech Łobodziński (Zagłębie Lubin) for #2 Arkadiusz Głowacki (Wisła Kraków)

Coach Leo was not satisfied with the practice.  It has been a long 10 days and they seem a bit on top of the world.  He warned them that the Finnish team will be coming strong and fighting.  The Portugal game is behind us already.  He reminded them that now is the game to win.  3 points = taking command of the group and taste the  qualification for Euro 2008 Austria/Switzerland.

From what I have heard, it is common for the Polish players to get complacent and think that they are invincible and to forget what work they put in to get where they are.  It is hard for them not to think ahead to getting back to their families/wives and to lose focus on the task of tonight.

After the practice, I went back to the Hilton, got my bag and went to my hotel to check in , shower and get a bite to eat.  As I entered I looked to my left to the restaurant / bar and yes you guessed it – many Polish fans drinking beer.

Polska has come in full force tonight.  The game will be completely sold out and thousands of Polish fans have made the trip.

I went to bed and woke up at 4am to go to the bathroom.  The bathrooms are shared.  As I walked (only in my boxer shorts) into the hallway, I saw 3 very drunk Polish and they looked at me and started to laugh.  I quickly flexed (gave them the pose that won it in 1989) and yelled “POLSKA”.  They rattled off some drunken Polish and I asked if they spoke English.  They did and I told them my story.  They too had come from Portugal.  I went and got my new Polska scarf (Wesley the equipment man gave me a gift from the 2006 World Cup).  They were impressed with the quality and the drunkest of them all insisted on a picture with me in my boxers and only the Poland scarf (sorry babe).

By now, 2 different people had poked their heads out of the room to ask us (them) to be quiet.  I told them that is was quiet time between 12 and 6am.  One of them said it was nearly 6am.

By the time I read myself back to sleep it was almost 6am and I slept until 10:00am.  I awoke to rain whipping into the open window (yes, I sleep Z style with the window open).  I showered and ran to catch the tram to the market.  Salia had advised me to go to the farmers market in Kauppa tori.  She said I had to try the Silakka (a small fish that is smoked to perfection).  I bought a combination fish plate for lunch that had Silakka , Salmon and Calimari.  Lekker!!

Job Dragstma ( a staff coach of Frans Hoek who worked at AZ, Fenerbache in Turkey and now in Finland), who has visited a few times to the U.S.,  is coaching a Professional Team 1.5 hours from Helsinki.  He is coming to the hotel and we will go to the game together.  I do not leave until Friday and I may try to go back with him and check out his club (the pro and the youth sector).  If that does not work  out, then I will visit HJK Helsinki which is the biggest club in Finland.  I already checked out the club yesterday since the youth training complex and stadium is right next to the Olympic Stadium.

Jari Litmanen is the most famous Finnish player ever.  Frans Hoek coached him at both Ajax Amsterdam and FC Barcelona.  Jari is hurt and can not play tonight.  Frans will meet with him either before or after the game.  I am hoping to meet him again, since he was one of my favorite players ever at Ajax.

Well I am off until after the game.  Enjoy and hopefully the next Blog will bring some very exciting and positive news.

Moido,

Andrew

Related articles:

Finland ready to take flight

Wednesday 12 September 2007
by Mikael Erävuori
from Helsinki

Finland's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying campaign has confounded many, not least the nation's ornithologists, and should they claim victory against Poland in Helsinki they would go top of Group A with three games to go. It is being billed as the most important match in Finnish footballing history and 36,500 fans are expected at the Olympiastadion, hoping for a win – and the reappearance of a lucky mascot.

Lucky owl After a strong start to qualifying, Roy Hodgson's team appeared to be faltering after seven qualifiers when successive defeats by Azerbaijan and Serbia left them struggling to keep apace with the section leaders. A win against Belgium in June would get them back on track but that did not appear likely early on as they struggled to get a grip on the game – then a large owl swooped down into the stadium. Depending where you are in the world owls signify anything from misfortune to prosperity and thankfully for the home side it turned out to be the latter. After a delay of several minutes the owl settled behind the Finland goal and soon after Jonatan Johansson scored at the other end to set his side on course for a 2-0 triumph. 'Final step' "I don't know about the owl's whereabouts," said goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen. "Some think it brings us luck, but I think luck is something you earn after years of hard work." That is certainly true of Finland and has born dividends this campaign, with results such as Wednesday's impressive goalless draw away to Serbia becoming commonplace. The stalemate left them second in Group A, two points behind Poland but two clear of third-placed Portugal, though Luiz Felipe Scolari's team have a game in hand. "Just thinking about the teams behind us, we have already achieved a lot," said Johansson. "However, there's still the final step to take and I hope we can go all the way."

'Big opportunity' That would represent a historic first for the Finns, who have never before appeared in a major finals. "We have every chance with just four matches to play; this is a rare moment in Finnish football history," said defender Petri Pasanen. "The Poland match is a big opportunity for us." The supporters do not need to be told and are expected to turn out in droves, further strengthening their hopes. "We'll play in front of a full stadium, which is superb. I just hope it will be a great night for players and fans alike and that we can give them a reason to celebrate," said Toni Kallio, who returns from suspension. Mika Väyrynen is doubtful with a calf injury but even if he, like the owl, is absent on Wednesday Finland are confident this is their time.

Scolari perturbed as Serbia call
Wednesday 12 September 2007
by José Nuno Pimentel
from Lisbon

Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted that he had expected to be in a "more comfortable position" ahead of Portugal's charged Group A game against Serbia.

Competitive section A late Poland goal in Lisbon helped the section leaders to a 2-2 draw against Portugal on Saturday night, making the Brazilian coach's job more difficult. "I was expecting to have two more points and to be in a more comfortable position," he said. "We expected three teams [Portugal, Poland and Serbia] to be challenging but now there are four teams competing for two places as Finland are still in the race."

Complicated position Third in the section, four points adrift of Poland and two behind Finland, albeit with a game in hand on both sides, Scolari's men can ill afford not to win against Javier Clemente's Serbia, who are a point behind them in fourth place. To make matters more complicated, the coach must also make a change to his starting lineup with left-back Marco Caneira withdrawing from the squad after sustaining a thigh injury at the weekend. Striker Hélder Postiga is also unavailable as he damaged knee ligaments in training on Friday.

Better skills "Serbia play a similar kind of football to us," said the 58-year-old coach, who led Brazil to glory at the 2002 World Cup and took charge of Portugal in 2003. "They do good things when they have the ball and I think they are superior in terms of skill to the Poles. We will need to work very hard to earn the three points." Elsewhere in Group A tonight, Finland entertain Poland and Belgium travel to Kazakhstan.

EURO journey takes more twists
Wednesday 12 September 2007
by Paul Saffer
from London

UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying moved one step nearer to completion on Saturday but which 14 teams will join hosts Austria and Switzerland in the finals next June is far from clear. Across the seven groups Germany are closest to sealing a top-two place, but they do not return to action until October while 22 matches are played on Wednesday. uefa.com updates the state of play.

Group A The top four all met in the sole eight-team section and both fixtures were drawn. Leaders Poland came from behind late on in Portugal to make it 2-2 and remain two points ahead of Finland, whose trip to Serbia ended goalless. Third-placed Portugal are two points behind Finland, but one ahead of Serbia, with both teams having a game in hand on the top two. The leading quartet are matched again on Wednesday as Finland play Poland and Serbia go to Portugal while Belgium, not mathematically out of it in fifth, visit Kazakhstan.

Group B Only one of the top four – Scotland – gained victory as France drew 0-0 in Italy and Ukraine conceded a late equaliser in Georgia. Scotland defeated Lithuania 3-1 and are now within one point of France, who they visit on Wednesday, and the same margin ahead of Italy. Ukraine are four points behind the Azzurri with a game in hand and the two teams now meet in Kiev.

Group C Greece were not in action but ended Saturday in a stronger position than which they started. Norway, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina were all five points behind the holders at kick-off but only the Scandinavian nation won, beating Moldova 1-0, and they have played a game more than Greece. Turkey, who had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 in Malta, have the same number of matches left as Greece and one more than Bosnia-Herzegovina, beaten in Hungary. Norway can leapfrog Greece when the pair play in Oslo on Wednesday while Turkey welcome fifth-placed Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina receive winless Moldova.

Group D Germany eased to a 2-0 win in Wales and remain three points ahead of the Czech Republic with the best record in qualifying – seven wins and one draw from eight games. Indeed, if Germany win away at the third-placed Republic of Ireland in their next game on 13 October their qualification will be assured. Ireland, however, fell three points adrift of the Czech Republic, who they visit on Wednesday, as Steve Staunton's team were held 2-2 in Slovakia after conceding late on. Slovakia, who retain a mathematical chance, welcome Wales in midweek.

Group E Croatia are now the outright leaders of the group thanks to a 2-0 defeat of Estonia. Israel had been level with Croatia but lost 3-0 in England. However, things remain very tight. Russia, who like the leaders are unbeaten, are now two points behind Croatia in second following their 3-0 win against F.Y.R. Macedonia, with England and Israel one further back. Israel have played a game more and sit out Wednesday when Russia visit England and Croatia go to point-less Andorra.

Group F Leaders Sweden were held 0-0 at home by Denmark but that was a useful result as Spain drew in Iceland and Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 in Latvia. Sweden are three points ahead of Northern Ireland and Spain with Denmark five further back but with a game extra to play. However, Sweden sit out the Wednesday games in which Northern Ireland visit Iceland, Spain encounter Latvia and Denmark play Liechtenstein.

Group G Romania remain at the summit thanks to their 3-1 win in Belarus, but the Netherlands overtook Bulgaria in second with a 2-0 home victory against the team who were previously unbeaten. The top two remain undefeated but the Netherlands, who have a game in hand, will close the three-point gap if they prevail in Albania in midweek as Romania do not play until the Dutch visit on 13 October. Bulgaria are two points behind the Netherlands and meet bottom team Luxembourg on Wednesday.