Finland will leave the semi-finals as a big favorite, but the USA is now like a different team, writes Vesa Parviainen.
Finland and the United States will hit each other in the World Cup semi-final on Saturday at 14.20 in Tampere.
The teams played in the same starting block, where Finland won and the USA was fourth. For the Americans, the Lions gave a 4-1 steam.
Finland’s position as a great pre-favorite is underlined by the countries’ World Cup history.
The recent Olympic winner has plundered gold and silver from the last two World Cups. The most recent U.S. championship dates back to 1960, and has never been better than bronze since.
However, the game is not as clear as it might seem. This is also well understood in the leadership of the Lions and within the team.
The U.S. is now like a different team compared to last week, when its silly bulges spawned 41 minutes of cooling off.
The show was full of chore and raised the issue of the players ’nightlife.
The Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, among others, recalled the reputation of the USA as a team that will mainly celebrate in Europe and the World Cup. SVT.
In the first round match, Sam Lafferty of the USA fought with lion captain Marko Anttila. Petri Saarelainen / AOP
After its boom, the team led by David Quinn has focused on the essentials.
It has greatly improved its game and overthrew Sweden and Switzerland, among others.
Nothing should be counted on the US once again succumbing to pigs and indiscipline.
Like Finland, the USA has strengthened since the first division match.
Finland’s defense is much better than Dallas’s Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell, and the number of NHL players in the USA has increased to 17 with three hard reinforcements.
Defender Jon Merrill and strikers Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman played key roles as Minnesota Wild collected record points in its club history (113).
Hartman made a balance of 34 + 31 = 65, one point more than the Lions’ most effective NHL aid, Mikael Granlund.
There are at least one pit of lions lurking: the first batch.
The U.S. is likely to enter the North American style right off the bat and aim for a driver’s seat in the game.
That’s what it did in the semi-finals against Switzerland. The US won the opening round with shots 12-4 and goals 2-0.
The best team in the early stages no longer recovered, and the American victory was recorded as a purely 3-0.
The lions ’performances have been marked by intermittent starting difficulties.
Finland have lost the opening round three times, and four of the six goals against Finland have been scored in the first rounds.
In the last quarter-final, Slovakia won the opening round 2-1 after finishing two goals.
Marko Anttila thought in C Morre’s field break interview that the lower claws of the Lions were due to “stabbing”. It reflects the pressures that race hosts always have more than others.
In addition to nervousness, Finland also had clear gambling difficulties at the beginning.
The brave pressure on Slovakia and the high trap messed up Finland’s game structure, and the five were unable to carry out their familiar frontal attacks through delayed starts.
The first shot towards Finland was only scored in the 12th minute.
However, the Slovakian crew lost in the individual comparison to the extent that its overperformance was expected to fade as the game progressed.
That’s what happened. The attackers, who had been sharply hairy and tried to exploit, slipped under their feet, and the game inevitably turned to Finland.
The third installments are – deservedly – Jukka Jalonen’s pride.
His way of playing the crew evenly helps the team cope. For example, in the 2019 gold races, Finland kept its goals clean as many as nine times in the final rounds.
The same trend has been seen this spring as well.
The game has started to roll after 20 minutes, and the team has not conceded a single goal in the second round. Out of eight thirds, it has lost two and the goals are 8-2.
Knowledge of the strength of the team gives the team self-confidence. It doesn’t startle in the slightest, even in the position of a chaser.
However, the semi-final must be awake from the start.
The teaching of Slovakia helps in this. Under Jalonen’s leadership, coaching is sure to prepare the five to get out of the pressure better.