Euro 2009 Contenders - Finland

Finland booked their place in Sweden with two dramatic goals in the last nine minutes of their Play-Off game against Austria, and held their nerve to record a 4-2 victory on penalties.

The Finns will be encouraged by their group stage consistency after recording five wins on the bounce before eventually giving way to Scotland 2-1.

Having got their campaign off to an ideal start by beating rivals Denmark 1-0, they finished strongly as well when they scooped a double over the Danes, who eventually finished second, with a 2-1 home victory.

What may be of concern, in what is surely the harder of the two groups in Sweden, is their lack of firepower, as they only managed to find the net 11 times in qualifying.

Finland are competing in their first ever European Under-21 tournament having failed to qualify for the previous 16.

Star Man
Tim Sparv – The towering former Southampton trainee is the Under-21 captain and is the heartbeat in the centre of the Finnish midfield, claiming three goals during the group stage and converting a penalty in the Play-Off shoot out against Austria. Sparv, who stands at 6ft 4ins, spent three years in England at the Saints, and played alongside Theo Walcott in the Final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005.

Manager
Former Finnish international Markku Kanerva learnt his trade as an assistant coach at HJK Helsinki, before moving on to the Under-21s in 2003. After learning the lessons of fruitless qualifying campaigns in 2004, 2006 and 2007, Kanerva got things right this time round.

The Finland Squad

Goalkeepers
Anssi Jaakkola (AC Siena), Lukas Hradecky (Esbjerg fB), Jukka Lehtovaara (FC TPS Turku).

Defenders
Jukka Raitala (HJK Helsinki), Joni Aho (FC International Turku), Ville Jalasto (Aalesunds FK), Jonas Portin (FF Jaro), Joona Toivio (AZ Alkmaar), Tuomo Turunen (FC Honka Espoo), Pyry Kärkkäinen (HJK Helsinki), Petri Viljanen (FC Haka).

Midfielders
Tim Sparv (Halmstads BK), Mehmet Hetemaj (Panionios GSS), Juha Hakola (Heracles Almelo), Kasper Hämäläinen (FC TPS Turku), Ilari Äijälä (Myllykosken Pallo-47), Nicholas Otaru, (FC Honka Espoo), Perparim Hetemaj (AEK Athens FC),  Jussi Vasara (FC Honka Espoo).

Forwards
Berat Sadik (DSC Arminia Bielefeld), Teemu Pukki (Sevilla FC), Jarno Parikka (HJK Helsinki), Aleksandr Kokko (FC Honka Espoo).


Final Qualifying Standings

Play-Off For Final Tournament

*Austria won 4-2 on penalties

Qualifying Results