Finland fans snub Ireland for England's visit

Markku Kanerva speculated that the late kick-off time, the weather, his side's poor start to the competition, and an upcoming game against England could be factors in the poor ticket sales for the Nations League clash with Ireland on Thursday.

Wed, 09 Oct, 2024 - 15:56

John Fallon

While miffed at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium being half empty tomorrow against Ireland, Finland boss Markku Kanerva realises it's due to England’s “world stars” looming.

The team ranked 64 in the world lost both of last month’s openers on their travels, 3-0 in Greece followed by a 2-0 reverse at Wembley and meet Ireland and England over the next four days.

Markku Kanerva is under pressure to rally a sceptical home faithful if he’s to avoid his position coming under further scrutiny and relegation to League C of the Uefa Nations League.

Only half of the 37,000 seats at the arena are expected to be occupied, the sense being Ireland’s visit is merely the warm-up to Lee Carsley bringing his golden crew to the Finnish capital on Sunday.

“Maybe it’s because of the late kick-off time, probably the weather, and then we meet England,” reasoned Kanerva about the sluggish ticket uptake.

“Of course, our fans and people want to see those world stars. But if you look at Ireland’s squad, they’ve has a lot of quality players in the Premier League, Scotland and the Championship.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that we can’t get 30,000 or a full stadium but of course we didn’t start the campaign so well. Maybe that can affect a little bit as well.”

Finland head coach Markku Kanerva. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

England’s presence in the pool has skewed the landscape, swiftly leaving Ireland and the Finnish battling to avoid relegation.

Zero goals and points from the first two matches places the spotlight on the former school teacher to engineer a swift revival and he knows this is their best chance.

“Yes and it’s same for both teams,” he said about the importance of victory to dodge the drop.

“To be able to stay in League B or have a chance for promotion to League A, three points are needed.

“England will probably win this group. Greece, Finland and Ireland are quite even and this game will be very tight. It was nice to beat Ireland twice in this competition in 2020 but that’s history and doesn’t matter. This is a single game.

“Maybe Ireland will defend in a low block. They have a great team but if you think about the centre-backs, for instance, many of those guys play in the English Premier League and of course they have a lot of attacking power as well and options.

“They defend pretty well as a team. And as a nation Ireland is very strong mentally and in duels and set-pieces so we have to be aware of those attacking threats.

"Sometimes they play simply straightforward but of course a quality possession game as well. We have made a game-plan to beat them so hopefully it will work.”