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Andrew's Blog
Tuesday, Sept 11, 2007
Heading to Finland!! To the Lucky Owl!!
Sitting at the Frankfurt airport waiting for my flight. It is 1:45pm
and I fly to Helskinki at 2:15pm.
Salia, a parent from Finland of a boy named Yusef I coach in
Petaluma United, and I have been talking for several weeks about
this big match. She explained how this is the biggest sporting event
since the Olympics in Helskinki .
Finland has never qualified for a major tournament in soccer. World
Cup and European Cup are the major tournaments. This is the closest
they have ever come and the entire country is behind the team.
Even the lucky owl!! Salia told me about how this owl comes to the
stadium only for football and not track and field or other sports.
It goes away and seems to come back and sit on the goal for the
Finnish National Football Team.
I am heading to the plane!!!
See below for and article and link for a picture of the owl:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=584298.html
Finland ready to take flight
Tuesday 11 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.
Finland faces Poland for top spot in Euro 2008 qualifying group
The Associated Press
Published: September 11, 2007
HELSINKI, Finland: Finland hopes to boost its chances of reaching
its first major soccer tournament as it hosts group leader Poland in
a European Championship qualifier on Wednesday.
A victory at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium would put the Finns in the
lead of qualifying Group A - an unfamiliar situation for
the Nordic country.
English coach Roy Hodgson got off to a flying start last year when
Finland opened the qualifying campaign with a 3-1 win away against
Poland, but the Finns expect a tougher match on Wednesday.
"Finland played a great game in Poland, but the Poles were pretty
disorganized then, they had just made a change of coach. I believe
Poland is different now, a very strong team," Finland striker Mikael
Forssel said.
Both teams are coming off draws in their previous qualifiers:
Finland tied Serbia away in a scoreless match while Poland played
2-2 at Portugal.
Despite the home advantage, Finland is likely to field the same
defensive lineup that started in Belgrade, with the exception of
left back Toni Kallio, who is returning from suspension.
Poland will miss two suspended players, Marcin Wasilewski and
Grzegorz Bronowicki, who were booked in Lisbon. Coach Leo Beenhakker
conceded he had trouble finding replacements.
"First, we must analyze what happened in the match with Portugal,
next, we need to count our losses and only then we will think what
to do with such a serious problem," he told the Rzeczpospolita
newspaper.
Ebi Smolarek - Poland's top scorer with four goals
- said the team is going to Finland to win.
"The Finns are not playing that well for the moment," Smolarek said.
"We have to improve on our own play in Portugal because we are not
coming to Helsinki to take one point. Only a win will satisfy."
Finland will be without injured veteran Jari Litmanen, who
orchestrated the win in Poland last year with two goals. But Hodgson
has found an able replacement in the offensive midfield position in
Alexei Eremenko Jr., a skillful dribbler and free-kick specialist.
Eremenko has scored 12 goals in 30 games for Finland, including two
goals in the qualifying campaign.
Poland is atop Group A with 20 points ahead of Finland with 18.
Helsinki
City of Helsinki
Helsingin kaupunki - Helsingfors stad
Location of Helsinki in Northern Europe
Country
Finland
Province
Southern Finland
Region
Uusimaa
Sub-region
Helsinki
Charter
1550
Capital city
1812
Government
- City manager
Jussi Pajunen
Population (2006)
- City 565,186
Official languages
Finnish, Swedish
Website: www.hel.fi
Helsinki (in Finnish; listen (help•info)), or Helsingfors (in
Swedish; listen (help•info)) is the capital and largest city of
Finland. It is located in the southern part of Finland on the shore
of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the
city of Helsinki is 565,186 (30 April 2007)[1], making it the most
populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin.
Helsinki is not only Finland's administrative center, but also the
focal point of Finnish cultural life and business activity. There is
a large and varied collection of museums, galleries and performance
spaces in the city. Many major companies are headquartered in
Helsinki.
Helsinki, along with the neighbouring cities of Vantaa, Espoo and
Kauniainen, constitutes what is known as the capital region, with
over 1,000,000 inhabitants. The Greater Helsinki area contains
several additional municipalities and has a population of
1,293,093.[1]
Names and etymology
The Swedish name Helsingfors is the original name of the city of
Helsinki, and is still the official Swedish name for the city. The
Finnish name, Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first
syllable: ['helsi?ki]), has been dominant in other languages for
decades. The Swedish name Helsingfors comes from the name of the
surrounding parish, Helsinge (source for Finnish Helsinki) and the
rapids (in Swedish: fors), which flowed through the original town.
It is often thought that the name Helsinge was given by the Swedish
immigrants who came from the Swedish province of Hälsingland [1].
In Helsinki slang the town is also called Stadi (from the Swedish
word stad, meaning city) and Hesa in colloquial Finnish. Helsset is
the North Sami name of Helsinki.
History
Main article: History of Helsinki
Founded in 1550 as a rival to the Hanseatic city of Reval (today:
Tallinn) by King Gustav I of Sweden, the town of Helsinki struggled
in its infancy. The fledgling settlement was plagued by poverty,
wars, and diseases. For a long time it remained a small coastal
town, overshadowed by the more thriving trade centers in the Baltic
region. The construction of the Sveaborg (In Finnish Viapori, today
also Suomenlinna) naval fortress helped improve its status, but it
was not until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed
Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that
Helsinki began to develop into a major city.
In order to reduce Swedish influence in Finland, Czar Alexander I of
Russia moved the capital from Turku, which had close ties to Sweden,
to Helsinki. The Royal Academy of Turku, back then the only
university in the country, was relocated to Helsinki in 1827 and
eventually became the modern University of Helsinki. The move
consolidated the city's new role, and the following decades saw
unprecedented growth and development for the city, creating the
prerequisites for the birth of the modern world class capital in the
20th century. This transformation is highly apparent in the downtown
core, which was rebuilt in neoclassical style to resemble St.
Petersburg. As elsewhere, technological advancements such as
railroads and industrialization were a key factor behind the growth.
In the 1918 Finnish Civil War, Helsinki fell to the Red Guard on
January 28th, the first day of the war. The Red side gained control
of the whole of southern Finland after minor hostilities. The Senate
was relocated to Vaasa, although some senators and officials
remained in hiding in the capital. After the tide of war turned
against the Red forces, German troops fighting on the side of the
Finnish White Guard recaptured Helsinki in April 1918. Unlike
Tampere, Helsinki suffered relatively little damage in the war.
After the White victory many former Red soldiers and collaborators
were confined in prison camps across the country. The largest camp,
having approximately 13,300 prisoners, was located on the former
naval fortress island of Suomenlinna in Helsinki. Although the civil
war left a considerable scar on the society, the standard of living
in the country and the city began to improve in the following
decade. Renowned architects such as Eliel Saarinen created utopistic
plans for Helsinki, but they were never realized to full extent.
In the aerial bombings of the Winter War (1939-40) and the
Continuation War (1941-44) Helsinki was attacked by Soviet bombers.
The most intense air raids took place in the spring of 1944, when
over two thousand Soviet planes dropped some 16,000 bombs in and
around the city. However, due to successful air defense the city was
spared from the large-scale destruction that many other cities in
Europe under bombings of similar scale suffered. Only a small number
of bombs hit populated areas.
Despite the tumultous first half of the 20th century, Helsinki
continued to develop steadily. The rapid urbanization of the 1970s,
which occurred relatively late in the European context, tripled the
population in the metropolitan area, making the Helsinki
metropolitan area one of the fastest growing urban centers in the
European Union in the 1990s. The relatively sparse population
density of Helsinki and its peculiar structure have often been
attributed to the lateness of the urbanisation. Today Helsinki is
the second most sparsely populated European capital after
Brussels.[2]
Economy
Kamppi Center is a shopping and transportation complex in the Kamppi
district in the centre of Helsinki.
The Helsinki metropolitan area generates approximately one third of
the Finnish GDP. GDP per capita is roughly 1.5 times the national
average, making Helsinki one of wealthiest capitals in Europe. In
2004, the local economy grew by 3.2%.
Since the 1950s, the economy has become largely service-based,
although industries such as shipbuilding continue to employ a
substantial number of people. Large service-based employers include
the public sector and the information technology sector.
The metropolitan area is the location of choice for the headquarters
of large Finnish companies as well as the regional headquarters of
international companies. This is primarily due to good transport
infrastructure, both international and national as well as the
availability of skilled labour.
Demographics
The population of Helsinki is 565,186. Finnish is the predominant
language of the city, but there is a sizable Swedish speaking
minority as well.
The city has Finland's largest immigrant population in both absolute
and relative terms. There are people from over 130 nationalities
resident in Helsinki. The largest groups are from Russia, Estonia,
Sweden, Somalia, Serbia, China, Iraq and Germany.
Society
Helsinki is also known for being unique in the way that for a city
its size there is no part of the town that could be deemed as
"slum", or explicitly inhabited by the poor. However, there is a
growing social inequality in the city and experts have recently
warned about the dangers of increasing social problems, especially
in certain eastern parts of Helsinki. Successful integration of
foreign immigrants into the society, infrastructure development,
production of public services and insufficient cooperation between
the municipalities of Helsinki conurbation area are seen as major
future challenges for the economic development of the region.
Rapidly growing in Finland is the trend (especially of the younger
generation) to work for "placement agencies". Although there has
been a massive surge of public companies going private in the last
ten years, this trend seems to be fueled by the increased demand for
more flexible work schedules as well as the freedom to work
seasonally or sporadically. Due to the nature of these types of
agencies as well as the types of work they provide, it is common for
them to hire non-Finns.
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