It’s an exciting, landmark day in the history of Finland as the home of Jari Litmanen, Kimi Raikonnen and Jean Sibelius line up in the finals of a major football tournament for the very first time. Markku Kanerva’s side surprised many across the continent, including plenty of his own compatriots, by finishing as group runners-up behind Italy in qualifying and while little is expected of a team ranked 54th in the world this summer, they will be hoping to bloody a couple of noses now they’ve finally arrived on the big stage.
They take on a Denmark side packed full of household names, among them Kasper Schmeichel, Christian Eriksen, Martin Braithwaite and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and managed by Kasper Hjulmand, an interesting character who took up coaching when his playing career was cut short by a knee injury he suffered at the age of 26. They are many people’s idea of tournament “dark horses”. But then so were Turkey and look what happened to them last night.
In a huge boost to their chances, Denmark will enjoy home advantage for their three group games and will play in front of 11,250 fans in their 38,000 Parken Stadium. Kick-off is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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