Finland frustrated by Armenia

Finland's hopes of reaching a first major finals suffered a setback as Armenia got off the mark in UEFA EURO 2008™ Group A.

Armenia hold on
Roy Hodgson's side led the pool at kick-off after defeating Poland and holding Portugal, but Armenia - coached by another Briton, Ian Porterfield - bounced back from their opening loss against Belgium to hold out for a point.

No repeat
Finland had won 2-0 in Yerevan in FIFA World Cup qualifying almost two years ago to the day, but here Armenia began brightly. Arman Karamyan threatened in the opening seconds, but like Armen Shahgeldyan 13 minutes later, could not force his long-range effort past Jussi Jääskeläinen in Finland's goal. Egishe Melikyan then sent in a powerful shot which Jääskeläinen parried, while at the other end Shefki Kuqi directed Finland's first real chance wide.

Kasparov checks strikers
The first half ended in stalemate and the second continued in similar fashion. Kuqi drove over and Sami Hyypiä headed wide, while Shahgeldyan came close twice. Gevorg Kasparov was having a quiet night in the Armenia goal but earned his corn 19 minutes from time with a stunning save from Mika Väyrynen. As time ran out, Kasparov pulled off further stops from substitute Mikael Forssell and Finland captain Jari Litmanen to give Armenia a point to take to Serbia on Wednesday, when Finland travel east to Kazakhstan.