inland plan fitting farewell
Saturday 20 June 2009
Perparim Hetemaj in action against Germany The atmosphere in the Finland camp following their UEFA European Under-21 Championship elimination is predictably subdued but Monday's Group B meeting with Spain is shifting into focus and with it, a chance to bow out on a high.
Low point
The sombre mood in the Finland hotel was palpable in the wake of the 2-0 defeat by Germany. Captain Tim Sparv may have admitted a few days earlier to "thinking about this tournament every second since the draw was made" but now, following back-to-back losses and an end to their semi-final ambitions, he wanted to reflect on anything but. "Do I have to smile?" he asked a photographer. "I definitely don't feel like it." Yet, the pride of getting to lead the team out comes at a cost: invariably it falls to him to address the journalists, revisiting the disappointing losses to ten-man England and Germany over and over.
Hetemaj low
Perparim Hetemaj deflects some of the attention. His matchday bandana replaced by a baseball cap, the winger sluggishly made his way through the hotel lobby nursing obvious wounds, both mental and physical. His probing runs caused Germany problems throughout in Halmstad, and at times the only way to stop him was to bring him down, three players entering the referee's notebook for their troubles. It was not enough to avoid defeat and elimination, however, his spirits sinking further after a subsequent failure to find any girls to talk to on Facebook. "I had no success at all," he rued. "I think I need to do some serious photo-shopping with my pictures."
Spain focus
It is only a temporary diversion, however. "We still have one game left," said Hetemaj. "We have gained a lot of experience already, and after this tournament more will go on to play for clubs outside Finland. All this will have important consequences for our senior national team." There could also be another, more immediate benefit. "We have so many Finnish fans here to play for, and no one wants to come last. And with a win against Spain, we could yet write history for Finnish football." An increasingly upbeat Juha Hakola added: "We have handled the defeats well. Sure, it feels bad after the game, but we are putting the Germany defeat to the background now. Preparations for Spain have already started and we are going out for a win, not to simply play the final game
