“the team from the Far North will be regarded as an underdog”
Everyday this week AFI will be bringing you an introduction to each country represented in this year’s 2014 Eat the Ball Football European Championship taking place in Austria from May 30th to June 7th. Game venues in the preliminary round will include Graz and St. Poelten, while the final games of the championship will be held at the Ernst Happel- Stadium in Vienna.
Today:
FINLAND
[su_dropcap]W[/su_dropcap]ith five titles (’85, ’93, ’95, ’97, and ’00), four silver medals (’83, ’89, ’91, and ’01), and two bronze (’87, ’05), Finland has been the most successful nation in the European Championships. This time, however, the team from the Far North will be regarded as an underdog.
Learn about Team Finland HERE:
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2014 European Championships in Austria
Finland will begin play in St. Pölten, Austria before moving to Vienna to continue the tournament. Playing in Group A, Finland with meet Sweden and the reigning European Champion Germany. Finland will play Germany Friday, 5/30 at 7 pm and Sweden on Sunday, 6/1 at 4 pm.
The Group A winner will meet the winner from Group B (Denmark, France, or Austria) in the 2014 European Championship Final played in Vienna on Saturday 6/7 at 7 pm. An IFAF Stockholm 2015 World Championship bid is at stake, as the European Champions win one of three places from the continent of Europe.
Team Finland head coach Tuomas Heikkinen’s preparations for the games have been a long process, and rely strongly on the performance of his players. Heikkinen says,
” Our team is committed, unified, well-trained, healthy, confident and athletic. We have some of the absolute top-level players in Europe on this team. The team is, above all else, a whole, the players, team management, maintenance and support teams, and training. All of this comes together with a big heart, and everyone’s contribution is important.”
“The most important thing for us to do is to get together and get enough repetitions, (because the way we play must as one an in sync with one another.) Tempo and contact will not be very hard in training camp, because the players, of course, must be at top speed at the start of the first match.
We must get our special teams are built, … and all further emphasis is all on the spiritual side to gear up for a top performance.”
There is much competition for spots on Team Finland, but Heikkinen says he will have a solution and teams positions and lineup finalized by the end of camp.
Heikkinen says Team Finland’s goals are that the team must only have the first 48 hours in mind, the time when it will encounter such as Germany and Sweden.
2010 European Championships
In the last European Championships Finland started out slowly with losses to Austria (30-7) and Germany (23-4), but remained in the A-Group by defeating Great Britain 32-9 (18-0). With the victory, Finland’s finished the German edition of the European Championships in the fifth.
Follow Team Finland’s journey on social media throughout the tournament.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/
And do not forget the official news channels: the www.sajl.fi of the European Championships, with the official hashtag is #FEC14, the Finnish official, is #jefuem2014. These hashtageillä you can follow and participate in Twitter and Instagrams.
TEAM FINLAND ROSTER
| Number | Last Name | First Name | Position | YOB | Height (m) | Weight (kg) | Club Team |
| 1 | Olin | Akseli | DB/K/P | 1992 | 1,86 | 94 | Vantaa TAFT |
| 2 | Vennelä | Seikko | DB | 1984 | 1,85 | 88 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 3 | Evwaraye | Efe | LB | 1985 | 1,88 | 112 | SAJL |
| 4 | Rantala | Pekka | CB | 1987 | 1,75 | 75 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 5 | Roiko | Niko | S | 1992 | 1,78 | 81 | Porvoo Butchers |
| 6 | Grönroos | Kari | K/P | 1968 | 1,91 | 94 | SAJL |
| 7 | Kadmiry | Miro | QB | 1991 | 1,81 | 88 | Hildesheim Invaders |
| 8 | Lehtinen | Janne | QB | 1989 | 1,84 | 94 | Simon Fraser University |
| 10 | Toivonen | Sami | LB | 1988 | 1,85 | 100 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 12 | Lehtonen | Veikka | RB | 1984 | 1,83 | 95 | Örebro Black Knights |
| 19 | Hämäläinen | Tuukka | DB | 1986 | 1,78 | 80 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 24 | Järviö | Ville | RB | 1988 | 1,71 | 90 | Vaasa Royals |
| 26 | Leinonen | Tuomas | CB | 1979 | 1,78 | 82 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| 32 | Nyström | Toni | CB | 1992 | 1,78 | 82 | Porvoo Butchers |
| 34 | Jaakonsaari | Velipekka | RB | 1985 | 1,9 | 95 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| 36 | Koivumäki | Juhani | DB | 1991 | 1,78 | 88 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| 39 | Sarvela | Matias | RB | 1987 | 1,81 | 100 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 40 | Kuikka | Niko | LB | 1992 | 1,87 | 87 | Vantaa TAFT |
| 41 | Koiranen | Ilkka | LB | 1988 | 1,83 | 107 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 43 | Äyräväinen | Santtu | LB | 1984 | 1,92 | 108 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 44 | Kurvinen | Ville | WR | 1979 | 1,88 | 91 | Porvoo Butchers |
| 45 | Sjöblom | Aarno | LB | 1975 | 1,91 | 98 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 55 | Raatikainen | Joonas | LB/DL/FB | 1990 | 1,85 | 95 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 60 | Alakoskela | Riku | OL | 1991 | 1,96 | 130 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| 65 | Lahti | Jere | OL | 1996 | 1,86 | 122 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 66 | Luoto | Iiro | OL | 1984 | 1,97 | 125 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 70 | Aitala | Aleksi | DT | 1989 | 1,93 | 132 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 73 | Lautala | Pasi | OL | 1980 | 1,91 | 140 | Porvoo Butchers |
| 75 | Rantanen | Sami | OL | 1986 | 1,97 | 125 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| 77 | Kaasalainen | Akseli | OL | 1992 | 1,9 | 124 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 78 | Tennberg | Arttu | OL | 1990 | 1,94 | 128 | Porvoon Butchers |
| 79 | Kuuttila | Karri | OL | 1987 | 2 | 135 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 80 | Myöhänen | Henri | WR | 1984 | 1,76 | 85 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 81 | Pinta | Tommi | TE | 1987 | 1,97 | 115 | New Yorker Lions |
| 82 | Kougia | Kristian | WR | 1985 | 1,88 | 85 | Seinajoki Crocodiles |
| 84 | Mankki | Tuomas | WR | 1991 | 1,75 | 80 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 87 | Lahti | William | WR | 1989 | 1,87 | 95 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 88 | Saloranta | Aappo | WR | 1991 | 1,94 | 87 | Anders Trojans Turku |
| 90 | Outinen | Okko | DE | 1989 | 1,92 | 114 | Vantaa TAFT |
| 91 | Ceken | Thomas | DL | 1975 | 1,84 | 122 | Vaasa Royals |
| 92 | Vainio | Lauri | DL | 1989 | 1,87 | 112 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 95 | Sarvi | Victor | DL | 1992 | 1,98 | 125 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 96 | Kankaanpää | Lasse | DL | 1985 | 1,93 | 110 | Helsinki Roosters |
| 99 | Rautiainen | Janne | DL | 1986 | 1,9 | 120 | Seinäjoki Crocodiles |
| STAFF | Heikkinen | Thomas | Head Coach | ||||
| STAFF | Wikström | Kim | Offensive coordinator | ||||
| STAFF | Holmström | Jens | Assistant coach / offensive | ||||
| STAFF | Vartiainen | Marko | Assistant coach / offensive | ||||
| STAFF | Tarvainen | For | Assistant coach / offensive | ||||
| STAFF | Titola | Rocks | Assistant coach / defense | ||||
| STAFF | Karppinen | Kalle | Assistant coach / defense | ||||
| STAFF | Talikka | Jesse | Physical trainer | ||||
| STAFF | Bezaire | Andy | Film / apuvalm / special teams | ||||
| STAFF | Pesonen | Sami | Physio / service | ||||
| STAFF | Mäkelä | Janne | Physio / service | ||||
| STAFF | Jormanainen | Jenni | Physio / service | ||||
| STAFF | Lehtinen | Sami | Physio / service | ||||
| STAFF | Åström | Peter | Doctor | ||||
| STAFF | Korelin | Päivi | Team Manager | ||||
