Current Mood: Confused

Remember the children around you… Here’s a reminder with a very nice video. Touchy.

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Current Mood: Grinning

Last weekend I was watching the FIFA World Cup 2010 group draw and I got to thinking that the European Championships are being played next summer. Then my brain worked a little and came to a conclusion to see where in Switzerland and Austria they are being played… So I had a look and holy shit, Vienna has all Austria’s games and a few playoff games including the final!

Now why would this being anything special… Well the fact of me going to exchange to Bratislava and the fact that Vienna is like 60km away got me thinking of a small road trip
Sure getting a ticket to the games is hard, but I can imagine the atmosphere! Should be awesome

So now I’m waiting for next Sunday to see the Euro2008 group draw to see what teams are playing in Austria’s group. I’m hoping for Sweden (pot 2), Spain (pot 3) and France (pot 4).

Eller vad säger ni grabbar?! (Or what do say you, guys?! in swedish)

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Current Mood: Alarmed & Flirtatious & Mischievous

I called the hospital yesterday and asked about my surgery. Apparently there has been a mix up. They thought that I’m leaving for exchange in January and therefore had postponed my surgery to next summer. So I explained that I’m leaving in early February and I’m prepared to have the surgery asap. So the nurse said that she’d talk to my doctor, see what they can do and call me today.

As the hours went by, I decided to call them instead. And due to the fact that the operating room doesn’t have any available dates until in April, unless cancellations occure before early January, we agreed that I’d have the surgery once I get back from my exchange. Which would be in late June or somewhere in July.

Now… How do I feel about this. I don’t really know… I know it takes off some of the bargain from my back. I’ve been really stressed with this school-exchange-surgery triangle the past couple of months. I do want to go to exchange, but it all depends on whether or not I get the required study credits before this semester ends and if I get to recover from surgery in time for the exchange. So now with the surgery out of the equation, I feel a bit relieved, but then again a bit sad. Now I have to keep going with my current condition which is that I can’t walk long distances without having pain in my leg, can’t go on my knees, can’t run and can’t bend it too much. Other than that, I’ll manage.

Now the question is whether or not I feel that I can manage in exchange with this condition… I’d say yes. As long as I remember, my health has been a bit fucked up whether or not it is my knee or my back. But one thing is for sure, I don’t complain about minor pain. It has to be something that would fucking put me down for a while (like 4 years ago my back did for 3 days)! And I sure am not going to start whining now! So I will carry on with this shit even if it’s the last thing I do! I will just need to be more careful! So F U pain! You can kiss my booty!

As for the studies. It’s up to me, that’s all. But giving my record on studies, I’m not the most hard working student there is even though there has been some definite progress during the past year. I am already working on some subjects I need to get done within a month and it really is up to me whether or not I will get the points required. As those points will determine if I will get my financial student aid for the exchange and that part is like 50% of total. So, studies… Anyone care help me?

As for the exchange. All papers have been delivered and I’m waiting for a confirmation from Comenius University in Bratislava. I don’t know how long it takes to know whether or not I’ve been accepted, but I’ve a good feeling about this

So that’s it for now. Suck your toe and call me Daigle!

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Current Mood: Confused & Idearich

Finland is out of Euro2008, that became clear last night when we draw the game against Portugal with 0-0. We were the clear underdogs whole game and were barely able to get the ball to 3/4 of the pitch.

Finland review

I’d say the best Finland player was Kallio on left side who completely stunned me with his defensive ability against Ronaldo while still providing support in the attacks and helping Daniel Sjölund. Daniel was pretty good last night challenging the full-back and still providing support defensively and taking Bosingwa’s runs even though the Portuguese full-back got to 1-on-1 situations with Kallio quite often. But yet, a solid game from this late prospect.

Right side on the other hand was a huge disappointment and I yet again declare Kolkka too weak for the national team. Sure he’s quite fast despite his age and shows his work-rate by closing down the opposite attacks, but he simply doesn’t have the technique or courage when it comes to attacking situations. All I noticed last night from him was the shot from approximately 18 meters that went wide of goal.
Also on right side, Pasanen played a decent game defensively, but his free-kicks and overall performance was below average which caused me being disappointed.

Central defense with Tihinen and Hyypiä had a very good and safe game throughout the 90 minutes. Tainio and Heikkinen were able to close down the central attacks and most attacks game from sides and the rock solid couple had no problem clearing them off the area.

Jääskeläinen in goal was propably the next most important player among Kallio making a few really nice and important saves. This sort of a game is exactly what you’d expect from a Premier League top goalie. No surprises and no let downs. Just pure class.

Tainio and Heikkinen had the role to take down Maniche and Veloso who both made quite good attempts on goal when coming up to 2nd wave. Both players, especially Heikkinen, did some great work from time to time helping the sides and taking control of the ball from the Portuguese players. Tainio was a bit invisible throughout the game and was eventually substituted. But whenever he had the ball, something was ought to happen. Safe play and a couple of tricks in the offensive play, that’s what we saw from Teme today.

The King, propably the most injury prone player world has ever seen, Jari Litmanen, was in the starting line-up as well. For his defense I can just say that he hadn’t played for quite some time and was clearly a bit off his game. Went carefully to any challenges and made quite a few faulty passes eventhough a few of them were nice attempts. But sometimes those pass attempts were useless as he seemed to have a chance for a shot himself as well.

Forssell did his share of the work in attack the whole 90 mins, but was unable to provide decent changes for himself. The Portuguese central-back Pepe was marking him the whole 90 mins and gave Forssell no room. A couple of tricks was seen, but that’s about all the positive points I can give to him. Johansson (damn) came on to pair up with him on for the last 15 mins, but he’s not the caliber striker that could provide the winning goal for Finland. So a goalless game was clear, for Finland…

Player evaluation (rating):

Jääskeläinen - a few good saves (8)

Pasanen - invisible and disappointing even though taking responsibility in numerous free-kicks (6)
Tihinen - solid game (7)
Hyypiä - solid game as well (7)
Kallio - surprisingly good playing a very good game (9)

Kolkka - did nothing worth mentioning apart from the shot (6)
Tainio - helped the central defense, controlled the tempo nicely at times..hasty passes occassionally (7)
Heikkinen - really good defensively, doesn’t have the technique or the eye for attacking (8)
Litmanen - old and rusty, a few good passes and a few missed passes. Certainly match his ability (6)

Forssell - a shadow behind Pepe, created a couple of chances, but wasn’t able to convince (6)

Subs:
Väyrynen - solid game defensively (7)
Roman Eremenko - clearly needs more experience (6)
Johansson - played 15 mins, nothing worth to mention (5)

Portugal - brief review

Portugal came on with 4-5-1 as well, yet the tactic could easily be converted to a 4-3-3 with Quaresma and Ronaldo providing support to Nuno Gomes. Attacking full-backs caused constant threat to Finnish full-backs and time to time especially Bosingwa was able to cross balls from deep in the Finland half. Other than that, the central midfield with Veloso, Maniche and Meira were able to take out any attempts Finland tried to make through the centre.

Player evaluation (rating):

Ricardo - played in goal and could have applied for social welfare, that’s how unemployed he was throughout the game (6)

Alves - a solid game and due to lack of Finnish attacks, was quite unemployed as well (7)
Pepe - rock solid game from this Real Madrid player. Kept Forssell off the ball and won at least 75% of the 1-on-1 battles (9)
Caneira - supported attacks on left, but caused no problems (6)
Bosingwa - really inspiring in attacks (9)

Meira - less familiar position as DM, but a solid contribution to the team (7)
Maniche - supported attacks and controlled the tempo in midfield (8)
Veloso - set piece specialist created a few good chances (8)

Ronaldo - good game eventhough didn’t manage to score. Best player with Pepe (9)
Quaresma - a slight disappointment, tried curve balls often (7)
Nuno Gomes - caused no problems (6)

Subs:
Meireles - took Maniche’s role in midfield and did well (7)
Makukula - no difference to substituted Nuno Gomes (6)
Nani - inspiring, but only played less than 10 mins (7)

Summary:

Even though Portugal was controlling throughout the game, Finland’s defense was able to stop the attacks and therefore a draw is justified. No great chances in the game apart from Maniche’s two chances from approx 10 meters. Both shots failed failed and caused no problems to Jääskeläinen.
Kolkka’s shot early in the game and Kallio’s (?) shot in the last minutes were the best chances for Finland. Both went off the goal and caused no problems.

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Current Mood: Cool & Esctatic

Finland is playing tomorrow and all that is good is a win! But what makes it difficult is the fact that we’re playing against Portugal, away! So crap hit me in the nuts and call me a jackass if you think we’ll be able to win. The only factor defending for our win is the fact that we’ve played really badly against weaker teams and the performed a lot better against bigger countries. So since I think most of the football fans think Portugal is one of the biggest football countries in the world, we might actually have a chance. And here to give the prescription for a win, is the world famous football analyst, Tonsku Daigle:

*applauses here*

So, in order to stop the mind-blowing attacking play Portugal is able to provide, we need to stop the attacks mainly coming from the sides. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Quaresma are extremely dangerous and will surely provide troubles to our backlines. Usually Finland has played Kallio and Pasanen as full-backs, but in this case I might give Kallio a boot in the ass. He’s tall, but his agility is nowhere near the likes of the Portuguese names mentioned earlier. Their technique and ability to challenge a defender is world class and in every way a threat to any defender in the world. So in order to have any chances tomorrow, our defenders need to stay focused! Tihinen and Hyypiä will most likely be playing in the central defense and are less likely to fail against the likes of Hugo Almeida, who admittedly is a strong guy and a good goalscorer. But I believe Tihinen or Hyypiä here are able to provide such strong marking that he should be lucky to get more than 2 attempts on goal.

Midfield is of course the center of attention. Deco, Maniche on the Portuguese side and Tainio, Litmanen and Väyrynen (I think Finland will come with 4-5-1 tactic tomorrow). Apparently Eremenko Jr is still sidelined due to that streetfight attack in Moskov past week and broke his nose. So he’s not playing. I am sure Tainio is able to provide such raging defensive play as well as attacking support that not many in the world can. Väyrynen has been a bit down lately due to lack of chances in PSV line-up, but I assume we will be using this versatile midfielder tomorrow or at least I hope Roy Hodgson sees what I see in him. And of course we have Litmanen though I doubt he will be playing for more than 45mins so assuming this is the case, Finland will go with 4-4-2 since we really need to win this game and to win a game, at least one goals is required.

As for the wingers, we’ve been relying on Daniel Sjölund the past games which has been good. I wrote earlier on this blog about the generation that should step in for Nurmela and Kolkka. Now Sjölund has been placed on the left side and Kolkka has been playing on the right side. This has been good and it finally seems that Kolkka is enhancing his performances. So I will go with these guys tomorrow.

As for the attack. I’d strongly recommend going with Kuqi and Forssell and leave Johansson out of the squad. Well some people know about my “appreciation” towards JJ and to tell you the truth, he sucks. Not di*k… well I don’t know. But he’s not worthy of the Finland National Team squad.

Finally, expected Finland line-up for tomorrow:

Jääskeläinen
Pasanen - Tihinen -  Hyypiä - Kallio
Kolkka - Tainio - Väyrynen - Sjölund
Kuqi - Forssell

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