Matchday #14 - Belarus vs. Finland
---
Are you a glass half-full or half-empty kind of guy?
If you're the former, this Belarus vs. Finland encounter was one of the most exciting so far in this competition. You adored the way both teams clashed in each other, leaving little space for the other to build any kind of decent offensive plays, and you willfully praise the chess-like tone of the entire match - this is a thinking man's game after all, ain't it?
If you're the latter type, perhaps a more casual football fan who expects to be wowed and entertained at all times, this was one of the most boring matches so far - not as boring as that dreadful Northern Ireland - China, which will go down in history as one of the worst football matches ever (except for the penalty kick shootout that succeeded the actual 120 minutes, interestingly enough); still, as the passionate fan that you are, this was far from your ideal type of match.
Now, it's just a matter to find out which type are you.
Belarus took control of the match early on, as they were expected to anyway. In just the first ten minutes they were able to get four shots in a row, while Finland got none. Still, their dominance was a bit timid and not at all built on a solid foundation, at least offensively speaking. While the likes of Kirilenko and Yaromko up front (the team's attacking duo) were - and indeed are - a step above all other individuals on the pitch, Belarus' midfield was having trouble supporting them, mainly Grantovskiy who tried to take the reigns of the build-up process but was always neutralized by the opponent's centre midfielders. And even when Belarus was able to come up with an interesting offensive play, when the adequate moment for to deliver that lucid killer ball to one of the attacking masterminds, they always missed it and often wasted possession - not because of a supposed defensive superiority of the Finnish defenders, rather because of the opponent's lack of clarity when they approached their box.
Defensively, Belarus were always keen on applying pressure anywhere and everywhere, adopting a very high defensive line. This definitely worked as this Finland side is not technically brilliant at all, so often they were forced to just clear the ball instead of building it up more careful and thoughtfully. It's not as if this was problematic at all for them though, as Finland itself opted to use a more defensive formation and wait for its opponent to lose the ball and then, when the Finnish got the ball back, opt for a quick counterattack led by Tauriainen, an attacking midfielder who's definitely this team's offensive leader: a short, agile and technical player who's always able to find his teammates.
Above is an example of Finland's offensive problems. The left-back has just tried to find any of Finland's CMFs (blue shirts) but Belarus' CMF duo denied the passing lanes for them both, with the help of the RMF as well, by positioning themselves in front of the Finland's players for to block the lane. As such, Finland's LB doesn't have any offensive passing lanes and has to pass it back to the left centre-back, who in a bit will feel Belarus' LMF breathing in his neck ever so close to him, so he'll have to just clear the ball mindlessly - which he eventually did after this picture above was taken.
Despite Belarus' control over the match, it was Finland who had the best opportunities to score the first goal. Kiuru almost scored a header (35') and ten minutes later, Jokelainen got one-on-one with the keeper but his shot was a simple one for P. Smirnov to save (45'). Anyway, these two were by far the most dangerous scoring chances of the entire first half.
Belarus vs. Finland - First half highlights
At half-time, Belarus' dominance was only discernible through the favourable ball possession percentage, as Finland got almost as many shots and got as many shots on target.
Now, I thought to myself, the second half has all the ingredients to spice this encounter up. The best is yet to come, and it'll come now, I said. Oh boy, how wrong was I...
If Belarus had started the first half of the match shooting four times in a row in just ten minutes, on the second half, Finland got four in just...three minutes! Sounds like the 2nd half will be absolutely frenetic, doesn't it? But it wasn't. In fact, the last of those four shots would end up being the very last attempt on goal for Finland until the end of the match. Sounds too far-fetched, right? Well, it was real. On one of those occasions, Kiuru almost was able to score, but Belarus' defense and the keeper himself avoided what everyone thought would be an easy goal.
The second half was failing to deliver the promise of better, more exciting football. Both teams were out of ideas, and soon to be out of energy too. So, they both decided it'd be much more interesting if they dedicated themselves to the forgotten art of fouling. After Belarus had a couple of completely harmless shots, from the 54th minute up until the 82nd there would be no more attempts on goal...for neither side. Now, fouls...there were lots of them.
Trubilo suffers a foul, the working title of this match's 2nd half.
Finland's manager Sami Litmainen was panicking with the team's sudden lack of offensive presence and took off both of the team's strikers (Kiuru and Jokelainen) around the 60th minute. In two minutes and wasting two substitutions, the manager made sure the team completely lost any kind of attacking inspiration as replacements Jantti and Jusif Ali failed to produce anything of worth up front. Kiuru and Jokelainen at least had some occasional flashes of semi-brilliance, while these two were just anonymous.
The foul-fest would end around the final five minutes of the match, when Belarus was able to force Finland to its own midfield and got a couple of decent scoring chances, one of them by Yaromko (88') which forced keeper Leislahti to perform a fantastic save - perhaps one of the best of the tournament so far. Yet, it was clear that this match had to go to extra-time, it was just the fairest outcome.
Belarus had other plans though. The left-back finds space down the wing, delivers a fantastic cross to the box...it's Nemirko, a midfielder, who gets to it first, headers the ball...it hits the bar! Trubilo is the first to get to it...
...and he scores! On the very last minute of the match (92')!
Seconds later after the goal, the referee blows the whistle and Belarus gets a dramatic, last-minute win to go through to the round of 16!
Ollikainen's face says it all really.
Man of the Match: Trubilo. It's not as if he were anonymous during the whole match - though he was far from being the most active of Belarus' midfielders -, yet he was one of the most lucid of them all, always able to participate effectively on the team's build-up process and rarely letting Finland build-up play themselves. Then, right when everyone thought we'd be going to extra time, he throws the dagger by appearing in a zone in which he very rarely - if ever - appears and scored the killer goal.
Up: Tauriainen. He was far from brilliant but always showed quality on the ball, too bad his team was far from the technical level he showed today - and admittedly, didn't use his creative brain, instead preferring for a more cynic, simplistic offensive approach.
Down: Yaromko and Kirilenko. These two were expected to annihilate Finland's defense beforehand as they're undeniably one of the best players of this squad - if not the best. Well, that clearly didn't happen. Yaromko was the less mediocre of the two though; anyway, neither were able to have a positive influence on the team's offensive play.
Down: Finland's manager. Taking off both of Finland's strikers was the seppuku moment of the match. From then on, Belarus only had to focus on their offense, as even I with my pot-belly and stamina of an 80-year-old smoker would've been able to stop Finland's attacking plays after that dreadful decision by Litmainen.
)
!
!