Head coach Petteri Nykky predicted Finland’s fate in the World Cup.
Petteri Nykyn Suomi had a weak result. Henri Keränen / Floorball Association
Finland’s national floorball team fell to the bronze medal match of the World Cup after losing to Sweden 4–3 in the semi-finals. The match was only decided by penalty shots.
Finland’s head coach Petteri Nykky didn’t start judging his team’s performance, even though it’s been a really long time since the last bronze game visit. The last time the Czech Republic played in the finals instead of Finland was in 2004.
– A good fight, but it wasn’t enough. The tournament is over and there is still a game tomorrow. Let’s tune in to it. Let’s think about the mood when the whole story is over, Nykky stated.
Finland and Sweden exceptionally met already in the semifinals, when Finland unexpectedly lost to Switzerland 7–5 in the first group. The march of the blue and whites in the Zurich Games has not been as convincing as hoped.
– We didn’t play that well in the first series. The jump was a little hard for this game. Close, but not close enough, Nykky said.
The head coach’s six-year stint at the helm of the national team ends with these games. The legacy of the period is the final victory over Sweden in 2018, the final loss to Sweden in 2021 and the semifinal loss in 2022.
– There’s no way you can have a damn good opinion about it now. But this is also a team game for me. Together we lose and together we win. Now it happened like this, Nykky said.
– Now let’s try to play that last game again. Later, we can then speculate how the legacies will go.
Nykky has previously won the world championships in 2008 and 2010 at the helm of the national team.
Now the first bronze match in years is ahead.
– We are not prepared for the fact that we will start playing the bronze medal match. But now it’s time to prepare.