Finland defrosts for football's return

Spring was in the air. The icy remnants of winter had melted away in Finland’s southern capital as the inbound warmth stirred football from its slumber for its long awaited return from hibernation.

Veikkausliiga was back.

The first Saturday of April brought with it a gloriously sunny spring afternoon, drawing local and travelling supporters in numbers to Sonera Stadium to witness the opening game of the 2016 season: HJK v IFK Mariehamn.

For those not familiar with Finnish football this was by no means predicted to be an even contest.

Taye Taiwo builds an attack from the back.

HJK – Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (the Football Club of Helsinki) – are the giants of Finnish football with 27 league titles amassed since their founding in 1907. To put their dominance into perspective their nearest record challengers are FC Haka and HPS who each hold 9 titles, yet neither play top flight football these days.

Recent years have proved rather fruitful for HJK, producing 6 back-to-back championships between 2009 and 2014, along with a rare qualification for the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League. 2015’s campaign, however, did not follow the script as they finished third behind RoPS and winners SJK – a stunning achievement for what was only the second top flight season for the Seinäjoki based club.

IFK Mariehamn on the other hand has never won the league. They are currently enjoying the brightest spell of their 97 year history having consistently finished each season in the top half of the table for the last half decade.

IFK M and their small contingent of boisterous fans had made the trek to Helsinki from Åland; the archipelago of 6,700 islands scattered across the Baltic Sea between Turku and Stockholm. Despite being an autonomous region of Finland, Åland is predominantly Swedish speaking – much like portions of western Finland – hence the prefix of IFK, or Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna (Sporting Society Comrades). This is common to a wide number of sporting clubs in Sweden along with a handful of Finnish clubs.

The afternoon sun pushed the mercury up to a pleasant 8 degrees Celsius before kick-off, prompting 5,251 fans to flock to Sonera Stadium in eager anticipation of the season opening spectacle.

The bulk of fans packed into Itäkatsomo (East Stand), shedding jackets and scarves to reacquaint themselves with a warm sun almost forgotten during the preceding substantially darker and colder winter months.

Klubipääty (the club end) was pumping ahead of kick off with the home fans in full voice while the traveling supporters, perhaps fuelled by pre-drinks from the lengthy ferry journey, also produced impressively vocal support despite their vastly inferior numbers.

Klubipääty was in fine form throughout the 90.

The hosts appeared hungry to immediately put last season’s disappointment behind them as they controlled the tempo from the outset. IFK M sat deep and dug in to keep them at bay in a cagey opening period.

The visitor’s backline was well marshalled throughout the first half, limiting HJK to half chances and intermittent long range efforts while the enigmatic outlet of Nikolai Alho was kept on a leash by Tommy Wirtanen.

As the half wore on the early patience of HJK’s build up play was soon abandoned for a more direct style as central midfield pairing Medo and Vincent Onovo sent continual balls in behind the IFK M defence. The visitor’s organisation combined with overeager runs saw each attack repeatedly killed off by a confidently raised offside flag.

At the other end of the park Aleksei Kangaskolkka cut a lonely figure up front for IFK M. His side’s conservative approach rarely provided the sole striker with adequate support to muster up opportunities as the visitors failed to register a single shot before the sounding of the half time whistle.

The match quickly opened up in the second half as both sides began to carve out chances soon after the restart.

With Alho still regaining his sharpness after long term injury on the right wing, HJK’s left-sided Nigerian international pairing of Taye Taiwo and Nnamdi “Odu” Oduamadi stepped up a gear, combining frequently to torment the opposing backline.

Odu, on debut since joining on loan from AC Milan, repeatedly found space for himself and already proved increasingly threatening with his direct running and dangerous crossing.

The opening goal inevitably came from the left flank midway through the second half when Odu held up the ball to draw in three defenders before laying off for his compatriot Taiwo on the edge of the box.

Atom celebrates his opener. (HJK TV)

The experienced fullback delivered a delightful cross onto the head of Atomu “Atom” Tanaka who took full advantage of his opportunity to break the deadlock via the underside of the crossbar.

The opener set the home fans into frenzy as Atom sprinted into a superman slide before being mobbed by his teammates. The attacker then wrapped up his celebration with a respectful bow – an additional touch of class from the Japanese import in what was a bright start to his second season in the capital.

The fans were on their feet once again minutes later to applaud the return of Mikael Forssell who came off the bench for the final quarter hour to begin his third spell at the capital club.

A 17-year-old Forssell was plucked from HJK’s ranks by Chelsea back in 1998. Fourteen years and five clubs later he marked his first return to the club in style, grabbing fourteen goals to finish as HJK’s top scorer en route to lifting their fifth consecutive title in 2013.

After a single mediocre season in 2. Bundesliga with Vfl Bochum, the seasoned 35-year old returned once again hoping to replicate the form and success of his second coming.

The veteran striker’s introduction proved cunning as he provided the assist for Atom and HJK’s second soon after when IFK M’s captain Jani Lyyski failed to clear his lines.

Mikael Forssell on return.

The scuffed clearance fell kindly for Alho; he slid the ball onto Forssell who timed his run well to beat the offside trap before teeing up Atom who calmly doubled his tally and HJK’s advantage with a side-footed finish inside the far post.

The hosts came within inches of a third goal minutes later when Alho’s long ball put Odu through on goal.

The winger’s lob beat the keeper but not the crossbar before it was eventually cleared. Despite his poor fortune Odu had clearly won the affection of the supporters on an impressive home debut.

HJK comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to secure all three points and a clean sheet from their first of 33 matches. They'll look to carry their second half form into their next match against VPS.

The opening weekend’s other fixture saw title rivals RoPS miraculously come back from three goals down to defeat newly promoted PK-35 Vantaa by a 4-3 scoreline.