Litmanen gives League Cup added lustre

With less than four weeks to go until the start of the new domestic campaign in Finland, the battle for the pre-season League Cup has been spiced up by the presence of 38-year-old striker Jari Litmanen in FC Lahti's squad.

Semi-final schedule
Neither Litmanen's side nor holders and league champions FC Inter Turku made it to the semi-finals after Saturday's last-eight fixtures, but there should be no shortage of excitement in the next round of games. HJK Helsinki take on IFK Mariehamn in one semi, with Tampere United meeting TPS Turku in the other. The semis will be played on 4 April with the final scheduled for 15 April, just three days before the new Veikkausliiga campaign kicks off.

Results paramount
The League Cup, which kicked off two months ago, guarantees each top-flight side at least six competitive games in early spring. The group stage of the competition gives teams a chance to bed in new signings and experiment, while results become more crucial in the later stages. HJK coach Antti Muurinen showed that focus after his side knocked out Lahti on penalties in the quarter-finals, saying: "I'm not pleased with how we played but I am happy with the result."

'Big news'
The 120-times capped Litmanen joined Lahti – the club formed with the merger of his first club FC Reipas and their local rivals FC Kuuysi in 1996 – last year and helped them finish third in the table to earn a first stab at European competition in the coming UEFA Europa League. However, he was used only as a substitute, and made his first starts of his second spell at the club in the League Cup this year. Veikkausliiga competition director Peter Lundström said: "Jari Litmanen playing for Lahti has given the competition a huge boost. It was really big news when the club registered him to League Cup."

Finnish legend
The presence of a Finnish legend has raised interest in the tournament, but Lundström was pleased to announce that clubs were warming to the League Cup, which was first contested in 1994. "All in all, I think the clubs consider League Cup an important competition nowadays," he said.