Finland on Sunday, Promotion play-off and Cup semifinals

JJK Jyväskylä – KPV Kokkola, Veikkausliiga promotion play-off


First encounter of this Veikkausliiga promotion play-off at KPV Kokkola ended 2-3 for JJK from Jyväskylä which was a huge boost for their survival hopes as KPV now need to win by two goals or win and score at least 3 goals away. Not a mission impossible, but a mountain to climb.

KPV had their chances in the first leg and put JJK very much under pressure from time to time, but it was not their day on Wednesday and especially gk Juhani Koponen need to improve his act if KPV want to keep their dream of promotion alive, another disappointment was the center back Mika Lähderinne, a player who was chosen the player of season at Ykkönen with his solid performances was just a shadow of his normal self and contributed to all JJK goals.

All in all, the first match was a proof of that there is no difference in quality between the top teams of Ykkönen and the bottom teams of Veikkausliiga, the only difference in this match was in front of both goals, but if KPV can get rid of the stupid mistakes they still have a slight chance of winning by the two goals margin needed. The man of the match was Korean JJK striker Nam, who is too good a player to be seen in this league also for the next season, and now it is time for the final favour from him to JJK.


JJK stadium will be sold out for this 13.00 CET starting match.

In the first match the line-up for KPV was (4-2-3-1): Koponen - Corr, Lähderinne, Kalliokoski, Koistinen - Uusimäki (83.min Saarinen), Koivuranta - Sipilä (75.min Roiko), Luokkala (43.min Halonen), Itälä - Linjala

Coach: Jarmo Korhonen

The most likely line-up for JJK is

JJK: 30 Mihaly Szerovay 24/0 – 25 Dejan Brankovic 4/0 - 5 Ik Kuyng Nam 23/8 – 7 Anssi Viren 24/1 – 9 Mika Lahtinen 26/5 – 10 Tommi Kari 23/6 – 14 Jukka Sinisalo 25/0 – 19 Christian Sund 23/1 – 13 Tuomas Latikka 25/1 - 23 Patrick Poutiainen 12/1 – 11 Georgij Hristov 9/1

Bench: 31 Antti-Jussi Karnio (gk) 3/0, 8 Matti Lähitie 19/0, 18 Zakaria Abahassine 18/0, 3 Janne Hannula 18/0, 22 Shkumbiu Arsllani 7/0, 6 Jukka-Pekka Tuomanen 16/0, 15 Antto Tapaninen 4/0

Out: 21 Toni Koskela 17/0 for the rest of the season

Coach: Ville Priha





TamU – Honka, Cup semifinal at Tammela Stadion, Tampere 25.10.09 16.00 CET

These two teams met almost exactly a year ago in the cup semi-finals as well, then Honka was the host and won after extra time 2-0. In the League they met twice and both won their home games, TamU 1-0 at home and Honka 3-1 in Espoo.

The League is over, Honka came runner-ups after finishing the season well, but the in the beginning of the season they lost too many points, partly because of bad condition of the pitches and partly because their own stadion was under renovation and they played their home games at HJK stadium nearby.

TamU started the season by winning the League Cup and they were among the favourites for the League. However their material showed to be too thin and they could not the handle the injuries for some of their key players and were never higher at the table than 6th. During the season TamU also found themselves in deep economic troubles and to release the economical pressure they did sell two of their key players to HJK and TPS, and let another one to return to Rosenborg.

If TamU can fight their way into the final it would be a heroic thing to do, they have fielded several youngsters, up until 16 year olds, in their starting eleven and any success at any competition would simply be a bonus after a very difficult season both on and off the pitch.

TamU won 2 of their last 6 games and ended up 7th in the table, where as Honka won 5 out 6 and the last match was a respectable draw at 3rd placed TPS.

Honka has now been 2nd in the league for two years in a row, and they also lost last season´s cup final against HJK after extra time, so they are not satisfied for anything less than winning the Cup.

The head-to-head stats show a slight upper hand for TamU over all at 6-2-5, but they have not been at their best for the last two years while Honka have been improving ever since they got promoted to the League 4 years ago.

Both teams have full squads to choose from, Honka have the advantage but also TamU have their chances of an upset.


TamU: 1 Mikko Kavén (gk) 15/0 - 8 Antti Pohja 10/1 - 13 Sakari Saarinen 24/0 - 30 Jari Niemi 24/1 - 17 Vili Savolainen 23/0 - 16 Ilari Ruuth 14/0 - 14 Jusu Karvonen 12/0 - 18 Rafinha 25/7- 11 Aleksei Kangaskolkka 25/7 - 5 Antti Ojanperä 21/1 - 10 Tomi Petrescu 13/3

Bench: 21 Jonne Hjelm 26/4, 12 Juha Soukiala (gk) 11/0, 4 Jesse-Juho Kuusisto 8/0, 28 Jaakko Ruuskanen 2/0, 22 Henri Scheweleff 25/1, 9 Juha Pirinen 11/0

Out: 2 Toni Järvinen 0/0, 25 Aapo Lappalainen 2/0, 23 Chris James 2/1

Coach: Ari Hjelm



Honka: 1 Tuomas Peltonen 21/0 – 2 Sampo Koskinen 19/0 - 19 Rami Hakanpää 24/3 - 3 Roope Heilala 17/1 - 11 Hannu Haarala 17/0 - 28 Rasmus Schuller 19/2 - 20 Nicolas Otaru 23/3 - 21 Joel Perovuo 25/4 - 17 Demba Savage 24/5 - 6 Hermanni Vuorinen 26/16 - 10 Jami Puustinen 25/12

Bench: 12 Janne Henriksson (gk) 6/0, 15 Aleksandr Kokko 19/2, 14 Jussi Vasara 26/7, 7 John Weckström 12/2, 5 Henri Aalto 13/0, 13 Ville Koskimaa 15/3, 26 Jaakko Lepola 16/4

Out:
Coach: Mika Lehkosuo



FC Lahti – Inter, Cup semifinal at Lahti Sunday 25.10.09 17.30 CET



FC Lahti finished their season in the League practically a long time ago as they had nothing to play for but concentrated in the European Cup competition as well in the Finnish Cup. Their final standing 11th does not really do them justice, but they were never close to repeat last season´s success when they finished third, and given their injury problems their decision to prioritize over the league games is understandable. Out of their last six matches Lahti won 3 and lost 3.

FC Inter started the season is reigning champions, but never really got into a winning track, and after a poor summer finishing 5th is about the maximum best position for them, strongly helped by the good finish. They won 3 and drew 3 out of their last 6 matches and seem to in form now that the season is already finished, part from the Cup.

These two teams met on the final round of the league at Lahti, and with two late goals Inter won by 1-3, but both teams did their best to hide what they can do and rested a lot of players so no emphasis can be given for that result. The first encounter finished 1-1 at Turku, and the over all h-to-h stats read 5-6-6. A tight match to be expected.

No new injuries for either of the teams, Lahti have had a lot of long-term absentees throughout the season, but both teams have a strong squad to choose from and Inter can be seen as a favourite here.

The Cup final will be played 31.10.09 at a neutral venue, Finnair Stadium in Helsinki at 14.30 CET.


FC Lahti: 1 Viktor Szentpeteri 16/0 – 23 Jarkko Värttö 6/0 - 3 Henri Toivomäki 24/0 – 12 Toni Huuhka 21/1 - 6 Kalle Eerola 21/2 - 8 Mohamed Fofana 23/4 - 9 Rafael 24/4 – 11 Drilon Shala 26/8 – 14 Konsta Hietanen 24/0 – 10 Jari Litmanen 13/2 - 17 Eero Korte 26/2
Bench: 21 Kaarlo Rantanen 12/0, 22 Juha Tuomi (gk) 11/0, 20 Jonne Kemppinen 20/3, 13 Jussi Länsitalo 15/2, 5 Juho-Matti Heikari 4/0, 19 Riku Heini 17/0

Unavailable: 7 Jukka Veltheim 2/0 for the rest of the season, 16 Jussi Heikkinen 2/0, 4 Janne Moilanen 7/0, 2 Heikki Haara 18/1

Coach : Ilkka Mäkelä



Inter Turku: 1 Patrick Bantamoi (gk)18/0 – 6 Jermu Gustafsson 8/0 – 7 Ari Nyman 25/0 – 11 Timo Furuholm 23/11 – 14 Joni Aho 23/3 – 18 Ats Purje 21/3 – 15 Severi Paajanen 26/0 - 17 Mika Ojala 22/7 - 5 Alberto Ramirez 23/1 - 29 Henri Lehtonen 23/1 - 22 Sami Sanevuori 18/0

Bench: 8 Touko Tumanto 14/0, 13 Eemeli Reponen (gk) 2/0, 12 David Monsalve (gk) 7/0, 19 Aristides Pertot 18/1, 3 Claudio Verino 14/1, 23 Ville Nikkari 14/0, 30 Martin Civit 1/1, 9 Guillano Grot 17/4, 27 Kennedy 21/2, 24 Joni Kauko 19/3
Out:

Coach: Job Dragtsma