Litmanen boosts weakened Finns

Finland coach Antti Muurinen said it was "great" to welcome Jari Litmanen back into the fold after injury for the international friendly against Iceland on 30 April in Helsinki.

Tactics changed
The AFC Ajax playmaker, and captain of his country, was sorely missed when Finland lost a UEFA EURO 2004™ Group 9 qualifying match 2-0 to Italy last month. In Litmanen's absence, Muurinen was forced to change his preferred style of play, a factor in the defeat.

'Only one Litmanen'
"Jari is back in the squad and that is great," said the coach. "Without him we have to adopt different tactics. We only have one Litmanen, and if he is not playing then we will not try to get another player to play like him but change the tactics to 4-4-2."

Four pull out
Although Litmanen has returned, four players who featured in Palermo have been forced to withdraw. Three of those - Southampton FC goalkeeper Antti Niemi and midfielders Teemu Tainio of AJ Auxerre and Crystal Palace FC's Aki Riihilahti - are injured, while RSC Anderlecht central defender Hannu Tihinen's wife is expecting their first child.

Looking forward
"We were all a little bit down after losing to Italy," said Muurinen. "But now we have to look forward and think positively. Against Iceland we have a good opportunity to try something new and perhaps do things a little bit differently." Finland are fourth in Group 9 having lost three of their four games to date.

Finland squad
Enckelman, Jääskeläinen, Heikkinen, Hyypiä, Kuivasto, Nylund, Pasanen, Saarinen, Forssell, Ilola, Johansson, Kolkka, Kopteff, Litmanen, Nurmela, Roiha, Valakari, Väyrynen.