Finland national football team 723233 225549831 2008-07-14T07:21:11Z 88.115.117.254 /* Recent Call Up */ {{Infobox National football team | Name = Finland | Badge = Football Association of Finland logo.svg | Nickname = ''Huuhkajat'' ("Eurasian Eagle-owls")| | | Association = [[Football Association of Finland]]<br> (''Suomen Palloliitto, Finlands Bollförbund'') | Confederation = [[UEFA]] ([[Europe]]) | Coach = {{flagicon|England}} [[Stuart Baxter]]| Captain = [[Jari Litmanen]] | Most caps = [[Jari Litmanen]] (114) | Top scorer = [[Jari Litmanen]] (30) | Home Stadium = [[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]] | FIFA Trigramme = FIN | FIFA Rank = 44 | FIFA max = 33 | FIFA max date = March 2007 | FIFA min = 79 | FIFA min date = December 1996 | Elo Rank = 47 | | Elo max = 30 | Elo max date = March 2002 | Elo min = 125 | Elo min date = 1962-3 | pattern_la1=_shoulder stripes white shirt| pattern_b1=_shoulder stripes white shirt| pattern_ra1=_shoulder stripes white shirt| leftarm1=1029B1|body1=1029B1|rightarm1=1029B1|shorts1=1029B1|socks1=FFFFFF| | pattern_la2=_shoulder stripes white stripes|pattern_b2=_shoulder stripes white stripes|pattern_ra2=_shoulder stripes white stripes|pattern_sh2=| leftarm2=1029B1|body2=1029B1|rightarm2=1029B1|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=1029B1| First game = {{Flagicon|Finland}} Finland 2 - 5 [[Sweden national football team|Sweden]] {{Flagicon|Sweden}}<br/>([[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]; [[October 22]], [[1911]]) | Largest win = {{Flagicon|Finland}} Finland 10 - 2 [[Estonia national football team|Estonia]] {{Flagicon|Estonia}}<br/>([[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]; [[August 11]], [[1922]]) | Largest loss = {{Flagicon|Germany|Nazi}} [[Germany national football team|Germany]] 13 - 0 Finland {{Flagicon|Finland}}<br/>([[Leipzig]], [[Germany]]; [[September 1]], [[1940]]) | World cup apps = | World cup first = - | World cup best = - | Regional name = [[UEFA European Football Championship|European Championship]] | Regional cup apps = | Regional cup first = - | Regional cup best = - }} The '''Finland national football team''' represents [[Finland]] in international [[football (soccer)|football]] competitions and is controlled by the [[Football Association of Finland]]. The Finnish national team has never qualified for a finals tournament of the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] or the [[UEFA European Football Championship|European Championships]], but has made four [[Football at the Summer Olympics|Olympic tournament]] appearances. It was considered one of the weakest teams in [[Europe]] in past decades; especially at a time when many of today's smallest nations didn't yet compete in international football. Finland is one of the few European countries where football is not the most popular spectator sport, and the game has traditionally been played on an amateur basis in the country. Only in the last decade &ndash; after the [[Bosman ruling]] and the removal of foreign quotas in the [[European Union|EU]] region &ndash; have Finnish players had significant opportunities to play in the continent's top leagues. Today, nearly all regular members of the national team play outside of Finland. ==History== The Football Association of Finland was founded as early as 1907 and became a member of [[FIFA]] in 1908, despite the fact that at that time Finland was still an [[Grand Duchy of Finland|autonomous grand duchy]] of the [[Russian Empire]] and didn't gain independence until 1917. Finland played its first international match on [[October 22]], [[1911]], losing to neighbours [[Sweden national football team|Sweden]] 2-5 in [[Helsinki]]. A fourth place finish at the [[1912 Summer Olympics]] in [[Stockholm]] still arguably ranks as the country's best ever achievement in international football. Finland beat [[Italy national football team|Italy]] and [[Russia national football team|Russia]] in the first two rounds before losing to [[England national amateur football team|Great Britain]] in the semi-finals. In the bronze medal match they were beaten 0-9 by the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]]. According to the story, the Finns were under the impression that the match would be a day later, so they had gone out celebrating the night before the match, and as a consequence were easily beaten. Finland's star player [[Eino Soinio]], aged only 17 at the time, was chosen to the all-star team of the tournament by [[Sweden|Swedish]] paper ''[[Idrottsbladet]]''. Finland also took part in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin]], but was beaten by [[Peru national football team|Peru]] in the first round. The country sought qualification for the World Cup for the first time in the [[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938 event]], but failed to score a single point. The fortunes of the team didn't improve much in the 1950s or 1960s: they were never near qualification, and didn't achieve their first win until 1965. Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the [[1968 UEFA European Football Championship|1968 event]], but had to wait for its first win until 1978. The [[1952 Summer Olympics]] in Helsinki saw the hosts crash to [[Austria national football team|Austria]] in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] championship in 1952, 1964 and 1966. The results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for [[1980 UEFA European Football Championship|Euro 1980]] by just a point and for the [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986 World Cup]] by two points. Finland was invited to take part in the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] in [[Moscow]] after many [[Western world|Western]] countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group. By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high profile European leagues, led by the [[Ajax Amsterdam|Ajax]] superstar [[Jari Litmanen]]. In 1996 [[Denmark|Danish]] [[1992 UEFA European Football Championship|Euro 1992]] winning coach [[Richard Møller Nielsen]] was hired to take Finland to the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998 World Cup]]. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, highpoints of which were a draw and a win away to [[Norway national football team|Norway]] and [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] respectively. Going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1-0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, and once again the dreams of qualification were over. Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to [[2000 UEFA European Football Championship|Euro 2000]]. In this campaign the Finns recorded a sensational win away to [[Turkey national football team|Turkey]], but couldn't compete with [[Germany national football team|Germany]] and Turkey in the long run. [[Antti Muurinen]] succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000. He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as [[Antti Niemi]], [[Sami Hyypiä]], [[Teemu Tainio]] and [[Mikael Forssell]] in addition to the legendary Litmanen. The team also performed quite well under him in [[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification|qualification]] for the [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002 World Cup]] despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with [[England national football team|England]] as well as beating [[Greece national football team|Greece]] 5-1 in Helsinki. In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in [[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#UEFA Group 9|the group]]. Hopes were high going into [[2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying|qualification]] for [[2004 UEFA European Football Championship|Euro 2004]] after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal. However, Finland started the campaign by losing to [[Wales national football team|Wales]] and Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations). These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3-0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in [[2004 European Football Championship (qualifying)#Group 9|the group]]. In [[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification|qualification]] for the [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006 World Cup]] Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in [[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#Group 1|their group]], the Netherlands, the [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]] and [[Romania national football team|Romania]]. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker [[Jyrki Heliskoski]], but results didn't improve. In August 2005 it was announced that [[Roy Hodgson]] would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. The [[England|Englishman]] becomes the second high profile foreign coach in recent history of the country, as he tries to lead the team to its first ever major championship qualification. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7120879.stm BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | Hodgson to return for Inter role<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Euro 2008 Qualification == {{Unreferencedsection|date=February 2008}} Finland was competing in [[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group A|Group A]] in [[UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying|qualification]] for [[UEFA Euro 2008]], together with [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]], [[Poland national football team|Poland]], [[Serbia national football team|Serbia]], [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]], [[Armenia national football team|Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan national football team|Azerbaijan]] and [[Kazakhstan national football team|Kazakhstan]]. The team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3-1 away and earning a 1-1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0-0 with the former and beating the latter 2-0. On 15th of November, 2006 Finland beat Armenia 1-0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying. In Finland's first match of 2007, they were in poor form when they lost against Azerbaijan 1-0, one of the worst matches in Finnish footballing history. On early June they lost to Serbia 2-0 at home, which many fans felt being the end of a real battle for qualification. But the next match was against Belgium and team Finland gained the trust of their fans back by winning 2-0 at home. ==Stadiums== Most of Finland's important home matches are played at the [[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]] in the capital Helsinki. It has been Finland's principal home stadium ever since its construction was completed in 1938. Before that [[Pallokenttä]] in Helsinki was mainly used. Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the [[Ratina Stadion]] in [[Tampere]]. Helsinki's [[Finnair Stadium]], which has [[artificial turf]], is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers. ==Nickname== [[Image:Bubi huuhkaja.jpg|thumb|150px|Bubi spectating a football game]] The team's nickname commonly used in Finland is "Huuhkajat" ([[Eurasian Eagle-owl|Eurasian eagle-owls]]). This originates from an eagle-owl named Bubi living near the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. He made his first appearance in a football game in [[2007]] in a game between Finland and Belgium, helping Finland win 2-0. Bubi was named Helsinki's "Resident of the Year" in 2007 and to the surprise of spectators, visited his own award ceremony on the stadium. <ref>http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Palkittu+Bubi+k%C3%A4v%C3%A4isi+yll%C3%A4tt%C3%A4en+palkitsemistilaisuudessa/1135232674034</ref> The name of the Eurasian eagle-owl has its roots in the scientific name of the species (''Bubo bubo'') and legendary Finnish sports commentator [[Bror-Erik Wallenius|Bror-Erik "Bubi" Wallenius]]. ==World Cup record== *[[1930 FIFA World Cup|1930]] to [[1930 FIFA World Cup|1934]] - ''Did not enter'' *[[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938]] - ''Did not qualify'' *[[1950 FIFA World Cup|1950]] - ''Withdrew during qualifying'' *[[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]] to [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]] - ''Did not qualify'' ==[[FIFA World Cup qualification]]== {{2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 4 | expanded = yes | fixtures = yes | tiebreakers = <!-- "yes", to display the tiebreaking notes --> }} ==European Championship record== *[[1960 UEFA European Football Championship|1960]] to [[1964 UEFA European Football Championship|1964]] - ''Did not enter'' *[[1968 UEFA European Football Championship|1968]] to [[2008 UEFA European Football Championship|2008]] - ''Did not qualify'' ==Current squad== Selections for the matches against [[Turkey national football team|Turkey]] on [[May 29]], [[2008]] and [[Belarus national football team|Belarus]] on [[June 2]], [[2008]].<ref>http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=112210</ref><ref>http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=112550</ref><ref>http://www.palloliitto.fi/viestinta/?num=112601</ref> {{Nat fs g start}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Peter Enckelman]]|age={{birth date and age|1977|3|10}}|caps=11|goals=0|club=[[Cardiff City]]|clubnat=WAL}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Niki Mäenpää]]|age={{birth date and age|1985|1|23}}|caps=1|goals=0|club=[[FC Den Bosch]]|clubnat=Netherlands}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Otto Fredrikson]]|age={{birth date and age|1981|11|30}}|caps=1|goals=0|club=[[Lillestrøm SK]]|clubnat=NOR}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Veli Lampi]]|age={{birth date and age|1984|7|18}}|caps=8|goals=0|club=[[FC Zürich]]|clubnat=Switzerland}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Toni Kuivasto]]|age={{birth date and age|1975|12|31}}|caps=72|goals=1|club=[[Djurgårdens IF Fotboll|Djurgårdens IF]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{Nat fs g player|no=2|pos=DF|name=[[Ari Nyman]]|age={{birth date and age|1984|2|7}}|caps=18|goals=0|club=[[FC Thun]]|clubnat=Switzerland}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Juha Pasoja]]|age={{birth date and age|1976|11|16}}|caps=15|goals=0|club=[[Ham-Kam]]|clubnat=NOR}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Niklas Moisander]]|age={{birth date and age|1985|9|29}}|caps=1|goals=0|club=[[AZ Alkmaar]]|clubnat=NED}} {{Nat fs g player|no=19|pos=DF|name=[[Toni Kallio]]|age={{birth date and age|1978|8|9}}|caps=38|goals=2|club=[[Fulham F.C.]]|clubnat=England}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Jukka Sauso]]|age={{birth date and age|1982|6|20}}|caps=5|goals=0|club=[[Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi]]|clubnat=FIN}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{Nat fs g player|no=11|pos=MF|name=[[Joonas Kolkka]]|age={{birth date and age|1974|9|28}}|caps=86|goals=11|club=[[NAC Breda]]|clubnat=Netherlands}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Alexei Eremenko jr]]|age={{birth date and age|1983|3|24}}|caps=35|goals=12|club=[[FC Saturn]]|clubnat=Russia}} {{Nat fs g player|no=32|pos=MF|name=[[Roman Eremenko]]|age={{birth date and age|1987|3|19}}|caps=9|goals=0|club=[[Udinese Calcio]]|clubnat=Italy}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Markus Heikkinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1978|10|13}}|caps=36|goals=0|club=[[SK Rapid Wien]]|clubnat=Austria}} {{Nat fs g player|no=7|pos=MF|name=[[Mika Väyrynen]]|age={{birth date and age|1981|11|28}}|caps=36|goals=2|club=[[PSV Eindhoven]]|clubnat=NED}} {{Nat fs g player|no=6|pos=MF|name=[[Teemu Tainio]]|age={{birth date and age|1979|11|27}}|caps=43|goals=6|club=[[Tottenham Hotspur]]|clubnat=England}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Tim Sparv]]|age={{birth date and age|1987|2|20}}|caps=0|goals=0|club=[[Halmstads BK]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Kasper Hämäläinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1986|8|8}}|caps=0|goals=0|club=[[Turun Palloseura]]|clubnat=FIN}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{Nat fs g player|no=9|pos=FW|name=[[Mikael Forssell]]|age={{birth date and age|1981|3|15}}|caps=55|goals=17|club=[[Hannover 96]]|clubnat=Germany}} {{Nat fs g player|no=21|pos=FW|name=[[Jonatan Johansson (footballer)|Jonatan Johansson]]|age={{birth date and age|1975|8|16}}|caps=89|goals=14|club=[[Malmö FF]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{Nat fs g player|no=10|pos=FW|name=[[Jari Litmanen]]|age={{birth date and age|1971|2|20}}|caps=114|goals=30|club=Unattached|clubnat=}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=FW|name=[[Berat Sadik]]|age={{birth date and age|1986|9|14}}|caps=2|goals=0|club=[[Arminia Bielefeld]]|clubnat=GER}} {{Nat fs end}} * Head coach: [[Stuart Baxter]] ===Recent Call Up=== Called up within the last year, as of [[May 19]], [[2008]]. {{nat fs g start}} {{Nat fs g player|no=22|pos=GK|name=[[Jussi Jääskeläinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1975|8|19}}|caps=42|goals=0|club=[[Bolton Wanderers]]|clubnat=England}} {{Nat fs g player|no=12|pos=GK|name=[[Magnus Bahne]]|age={{birth date and age|1979|3|15}}|caps=2|goals=0|club=[[Halmstads BK]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Henri Sillanpää]]|age={{birth date and age|1979|6|4}}|caps=4|goals=0|club=[[Vaasan Palloseura]]|clubnat=FIN}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Jani Viander]]|age={{birth date and age|1975|8|18}}|caps=13|goals=0|club=[[Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi]]|clubnat=FIN}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=GK|name=[[Antti Niemi]]|age={{birth date and age|1972|5|31}}|caps=67|goals=0|club=[[Fulham F.C.]]|clubnat=ENG}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Hannu Patronen]]|age={{birth date and age|1984|5|23}}|caps=0|goals=0|club=[[Helsingborgs IF]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Markus Halsti]]|age={{birth date and age|1984|3|19}}|caps=1|goals=0|club=[[Malmö FF]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{Nat fs g player|no=2|pos=DF|name=[[Petri Pasanen]]|age={{birth date and age|1980|9|24}}|caps=45|goals=1|club=[[SV Werder Bremen]]|clubnat=Germany}} {{Nat fs g player|no=4|pos=DF|name=[[Sami Hyypiä]]|age={{birth date and age|1973|10|7}}|caps=90|goals=5|club=[[Liverpool F.C.]]|clubnat=England}} {{Nat fs g player|no=5|pos=DF|name=[[Hannu Tihinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1976|7|1}}|caps=64|goals=4|club=[[FC Zürich]]|clubnat=Switzerland}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Tuomo Könönen]]|age={{birth date and age|1977|12|29}}|caps=6|goals=0|club=[[Odd Grenland]]|clubnat=Norway}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Heikki Pulkkinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1982|8|12}}|caps=2|goals=0|club=[[MyPa]]|clubnat=FIN}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=DF|name=[[Toni Järvinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1981|1|27}}|caps=0|goals=0|club=[[Tampere United]]|clubnat=FIN}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Jarkko Wiss]]|age={{birth date and age|1972|4|17}}|caps=43|goals=3|club=Retired|clubnat=}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Mika Nurmela]]|age={{birth date and age|1971|12|26}}|caps=71|goals=4|club=[[Rovaniemen Palloseura]]|clubnat=FIN}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Janne Saarinen]]|age={{birth date and age|1977|2|28}}|caps=42|goals=0|club=[[BK Häcken]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Fredrik Svanbäck]]|age={{birth date and age|1979|12|5}}|caps=1|goals=0|club=[[Helsingborgs IF]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{Nat fs g player|no=16|pos=MF|name=[[Aki Riihilahti]]| age={{birth date and age|1976|9|9}}|caps=69|goals=11|club=[[Djurgårdens IF Fotboll|Djurgårdens IF]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Pekka Lagerblom]]|age={{birth date and age|1982|10|19}}|caps=12|goals=0|club=[[Alemannia Aachen]]|clubnat=GER}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Jari Ilola]]|age={{birth date and age|1978|8|29}}|caps=30|goals=1|club=[[IF Elfsborg]]|clubnat=SWE}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Peter Kopteff]]|age={{birth date and age|1979|3|10}}|caps=39|goals=1|club=[[FC Utrecht]]|clubnat=Netherlands}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Kari Arkivuo]]|age={{birth date and age|1983|6|23}}|caps=6|goals=1|club=[[Sandefjord Fotball]]|clubnat=Norway}} {{Nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Daniel Sjölund]]| age={{birth date and age|1983|4|22}}|caps=15|goals=1|club=[[Djurgårdens IF Fotboll|Djurgårdens IF]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=MF|name=[[Mika Ääritalo]]|age={{birth date and age|1985|7|25}}|caps=0|goals=0|club=[[Turun Palloseura]]|clubnat=Finland}} |----- ! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" | {{Nat fs g player|no=18|pos=FW|name=[[Shefki Kuqi]]|age={{birth date and age|1976|11|10}}|caps=52|goals=6|club=[[Ipswich Town F.C.]]|clubnat=England}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=FW|name=[[Roni Porokara]]|age={{birth date and age|1983|12|12}}|caps=2|goals=0|club=[[Örebro SK]]|clubnat=Sweden}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=FW|name=[[Jari Niemi]]|age={{birth date and age|1977|2|2}}|caps=23|goals=3|club=[[Tampere United]]|clubnat=Finland}} {{nat fs g player|no=|pos=FW|name=[[Antti Pohja]]|age={{birth date and age|1977|1|11}}|caps=20|goals=2|club=[[Tampere United]]|clubnat=FIN}} {{Nat fs end}} *''Caps and goals correct as of [[June 2]], [[2008]]'' ==Coaching staff== *Head coach: [[Stuart Baxter]] *Coach: ''vacant'' *Coach: [[Jari-Pekka Keurulainen]] *Goalkeeping coach: [[Olli Huttunen]] *[[Finland national under-21 football team|U-21]] coach: [[Markku Kanerva]] *Team director: [[Lennart Wangel]] *Team doctor: [[Heikki Kinnunen (doctor)|Heikki Kinnunen]] *Masseur: [[Hannu Kanerva]] *Physiotherapist: [[Paavo Leiramo]] *Kit manager: [[Kai Kyntölä]] *Media officer: [[Timo Walden]] ==Famous past players== {| |valign="top"| *[[Veikko Asikainen]] *[[Verner Eklöf]] *[[Pentti Eronen]] *[[Ari Hjelm]] *[[Olli Huttunen]] *[[Jukka Ikäläinen]] *[[Atik Ismail]] *[[Markku Kanerva]] *[[Hjalmar Kelin]] *[[Olavi Laaksonen]] *[[Kari Laukkanen]] *[[Aatos Lehtonen]] |width="50"|&nbsp; |valign="top"| *[[Kalevi Lehtovirta]] *[[Åke Lindman]] *[[Mika Lipponen]] *[[Stig-Göran Myntti]] *[[Antti Niemi]] *[[Kaarlo Niilonen]] *[[Algoth Niska]] *[[Mixu Paatelainen|Mika-Matti Paatelainen]] *[[Kai Pahlman]] *[[Juhani Peltonen]] *[[Erkka Petäjä]] *[[Jari Rantanen]] |width="50"|&nbsp; |valign="top"| *[[Pasi Rautiainen]] *[[Nils Rikberg]] *[[Olavi Rissanen]] *[[Lars Nasman]] *[[Aulis Rytkönen]] *[[Thure Sarnola]] *[[Eino Soinio]] *[[Antti Sumiala]] *[[Arto Tolsa]] *[[Simo Valakari]] *[[Max Viinioksa]] |width="50"|&nbsp; |valign="top"| *[[Jarl Öhman]] |} ==Player records== ===Most capped players=== {| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" style="text-align: center;" |- !# !Name !Career !Caps !Goals |- |1||align="left"|'''[[Jari Litmanen]]'''||1989-||114||30 |- |2||align="left"|[[Ari Hjelm]]||1983-96||100||20 |- |3||align="left"|'''[[Sami Hyypiä]]'''||1992-||90||5 |- |4||align="left"|'''[[Jonatan Johansson (footballer)|Jonatan Johansson]]'''||1996-||89||14 |- |5||align="left"|'''[[Joonas Kolkka]]'''||1994-||86||11 |- |6||align="left"|[[Erkka Petäjä]]||1983-94||83||0 |- |7||align="left"|[[Arto Tolsa]]||1964-81||76||10 |- |8||align="left"|'''[[Toni Kuivasto]]'''||1997-||72||1 |- |9||align="left"|[[Mika Nurmela]]||1992-2007||71||4 |- |10||align="left"|[[Mixu Paatelainen|Mika-Matti Paatelainen]]||1986-2000||70||18 |- |} ===Top goalscorers=== {| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" style="text-align: center;" |- !# !Name !Career !Goals !Caps |- |1||align="left"|'''[[Jari Litmanen]]'''||1989-||30||114 |- |2||align="left"|[[Ari Hjelm]]||1983-96||20||100 |- |3||align="left"|[[Mixu Paatelainen|Mika-Matti Paatelainen]]||1986-2000||18||70 |- |4||align="left"|[[Verner Eklöf]]||1919-27||17||32 |- |=||align="left"|'''[[Mikael Forssell]]'''||1999-||17||55 |- |6||align="left"|[[Aulis Koponen]]||1924-35||16||39 |- |=||align="left"|[[Gunnar Åström]]||1923-37||16||44 |- |8||align="left"|'''[[Jonatan Johansson (footballer)|Jonatan Johansson]]'''||1996-||14||89 |- |9||align="left"|[[William Kanerva]]||1922-38||13||51 |- |=||align="left"|[[Jorma Vaihela]]||1947-54||13||33 |- |} *''Correct as of [[June 2]], [[2008]]'' *''Players who are still active and available for selection are in bold.'' ==Coaches== {| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" style="text-align: center;" |- !Coach !Nat !Tenure !Matches !Wins !Draws !Losses |- |style="text-align: left;"|No coach | |1911&ndash;1921 |17 |6 |2 |9 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Jarl Öhman]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1922 |4 |1 |0 |3 |- |style="text-align: left;"|No coach | |1923&ndash;1935 |77 |22 |12 |43 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Ferdinand Fabra]] |{{flagicon|Germany}} |1936&ndash;1937 |8 |1 |1 |6 |- |style="text-align: left;"|No coach | |1937&ndash;1938 |9 |3 |0 |6 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Gábor Obitz]] |{{flagicon|Hungary}} |1939 |6 |1 |0 |5 |- |style="text-align: left;"|No coach | |1939&ndash;1943 |7 |0 |1 |6 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Axel Mårtensson]] |{{flagicon|Sweden}} |1945 |2 |0 |0 |2 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Niilo Tammisalo]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1946 |3 |0 |0 |3 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Aatos Lehtonen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1947&ndash;1955 |51 |7 |9 |35 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Kurt Weinreich]] |{{flagicon|Germany}} |1955&ndash;1958 |23 |3 |1 |19 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Aatos Lehtonen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1959&ndash;1961 |19 |3 |0 |16 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Olavi Laaksonen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1962&ndash;1974 |91 |16 |21 |54 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Martti Kosma]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1975 |2 |0 |1 |1 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Aulis Rytkönen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1975&ndash;1978 |30 |8 |4 |18 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Esko Malm]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1979&ndash;1981 |27 |4 |6 |17 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Martti Kuusela]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1982&ndash;1987 |53 |9 |11 |33 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Jukka Vakkila]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1988&ndash;1992 |48 |7 |21 |20 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Tommy Lindholm]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1993&ndash;1994 |25 |5 |7 |13 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Jukka Ikäläinen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |1994&ndash;1996 |21 |7 |4 |10 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Richard Møller Nielsen]] |{{flagicon|Denmark}} |1996&ndash;1999 |34 |9 |12 |13 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Antti Muurinen]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |2000&ndash;2005 |72 |34 |12 |26 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Jyrki Heliskoski]] |{{flagicon|Finland}} |2005 |6 |2 |2 |2 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Roy Hodgson]] |{{flagicon|England}} |2006&ndash;2007 |22 |6 |11 |5 |- |style="text-align: left;"|[[Stuart Baxter]] |{{flagicon|England}} |2008&ndash; |4 |0 |1 |3 |} *''Correct as of [[June 2]] [[2008]]'' ==See also== *[[Football in Finland]] *[[Finland national under-21 football team]] *[[Finland women's national football team]] *[[Sápmi national football team]] *[[Åland Islands national football team]] ==References== <references/> ==External links== * {{fi icon}} [http://www.palloliitto.fi/maajoukkueet/miesten_a-maajoukkue/ Official website] *[http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/fin-intres.html RSSSF archive of results 1911-] *[http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/fin-recintlp.html RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers] *[http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/fin-coach-triv.html RSSSF archive of coaches] *[http://www.suomifanit.com/en/index.html The Finnish National Team Supporters' Association] {{fb start}} {{Football in Finland}} {{International Football}} {{UEFA teams}} {{fb end}} [[Category:European national football teams]] [[Category:Finland national football team| ]] [[ar:منتخب فنلندا لكرة القدم]] 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