Finns hail female heroes

By Sami Terävä

Finland returned to a heroes' welcome after defeating Russia 3-1 in Moscow to qualify for the 2005 UEFA European Women's Championship.

Great welcome
Having beaten the Russians 1-0 last Saturday in the play-off first leg, Mikael Käld's side played superbly away to seal a 4-1 aggregate victory, thus becoming the first senior Finland team to progress to a UEFA final tournament. Upon landing at Helsinki airport, the players and delegation were greeted by Football Association of Finland (SPL) staff, fans and families, as well as a sizeable media contingent.

Valkonen 'speechless'
After SPL vice-president Jukka Gustafsson and general secretary Teuvo Holopainen had addressed the crowd, captain Sanna Valkonen was charged with finding the right words to capture the feeling of elation. "After years of effort and hard work we finally made it. Qualifying for the European Championship is too big a thing to say in words. This is a dream come true for us - I'm speechless."

'Biggest achievement'
The Umeå IK defender's vice-captain, Anne Mäkinen, the New Jersey Wildcats player who scored the opening goal at the Moskvich stadium, added: "This is by far the biggest achievement of my career. The development of this team has been a long and steady process. Now we have enough depth and quality, so it doesn't matter who we face on the pitch."

Coach praised
Mäkinen was also full of praise for coach Käld, who assured supporters that the Finns had not achieved all their goals. "These women have shown that they're strong and self-confident, proving during qualifying that they can compete with the best. Just look at Tiina Salmén - she's just 20 but she sank an experienced Russia side with two goals.

'There to win'
"I'm sure that we have lots of potential left for England 2005. We will be there to win - this team has plenty of appetite remaining which is waiting to be satisfied."

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