Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela captained her Finland side last night in their narrow 1-0 defeat to Denmark in Milton Keynes, a result which saw the nation knocked out of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.
Finland put in a valiant defensive effort, holding their opponents at 0-0 until the 72nd minute when Chelsea’s Pernille Harder pounced on a loose ball, heading it into an empty net.
Korpela faced 19 attempts on goal throughout the game, conceding only once but despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep her side in the contest.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time after the match, the 36-year-old was heartbroken but proud of her team.
“Of course, when you don’t win the game, you can’t be fully satisfied,” she said. “But I think the whole team, we gave absolutely everything and it was small margins in the end that decided this kind of game.
“There’s lots of good stuff that we can take into the last game of the group stage.”
The Finnish side sat deep all game, their best chance coming through recent Liverpool signing Emma Koivisto, who had underlapped her winger from her usual full-back position and found herself in the box late in the second half. Her strike snaked wide of the left post, leaving her side wondering where a goal could come from.
It was Chelsea and Denmark star Harder who was the one to make the difference, instinctively latching onto a rebound to put her side ahead and to eventually win the game. She was instrumental throughout, weaving together a Denmark side who were figuring the Finnish puzzle out slowly.
Finland were again backed by some fantastic support in the stands and Korpela admitted that she has been amazed by the effort of the fans.
“We love the stadium, we love the fans here, we really would like to play more here,” she said. “Luckily, we have one more game here and we want to show to the great crowd that it’s worth it for them coming here and cheering for us.”
On Saturday, Finland take on Germany in their final Group B match while Denmark and Spain will battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals.
By James McCormick
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