Finland and Italy meet at the Myyrmäki football stadium in Vantaa on Saturday, September 21, aiming to keep pace with France in Group A of the 2024/25 IFAF U19 European Championships.
Finland sees action for the first time, while Italy hopes to bounce back after they lost 32-21 to France back in May having led 21-16.
The game will be live streamed at IFAF.TV. and will be preceded by a U15 friendly game between Finland and Germany.
A defeat will eliminate Italy from the opportunity to qualify for next year’s three-team round robin tournament that will crown the European champion. A Finland win will set up a winner takes all meeting with France and the chance to join Austria and either Germany or Sweden from Group B. Austria qualified as reigning champions and in June won the bronze medal at the IFAF U20 World Junior Championships in Canada by beating the United States in the third-place playoff game.
Finland head coach Toni Uusitalo:
“Our preparations have gone well, even though many players from this age group are trying their wings in the United States or at the NFL Academy. We’ve managed to put together a good team. Many players are familiar from previous national team years at the U17 level.
“The level of the players has been a positive surprise. There has been a strong focus on coaching young players in clubs, which makes the work easier for the national team coaches. We won’t speculate on the outcome, but we will start the European Championship season by trusting in our own performance and proceed one opponent at a time.”
Italy head coach Giorgio Longhi said:
“The opportunity to play matches against the Finnish national teams has always represented the chance to compete with one of the best teams in Europe.
“Italy has just returned to the level where we can play at their standard, and we have demonstrated this in the last two matches against Germany and France. With a three-day camp, we had the chance to prepare and there are players with quality in every position. We are focused on maximizing what we have, rather than worrying about what we lack or what Finland has, because those are factors we cannot control.
“Finland are stronger and we’ve never beaten them, but we are the favorites. Why? Italy has nothing to lose. We will play only to win, free from the fear of losing.”
Photo: FIDAF