The men of the cod country are going to knock down the Lions in the opening match of the World Championship tournament on Friday for the first time in the history of values.
Norway has never won the Lions in the men’s championships, but this is reportedly happening in the opening match of the World Championships in Tampere on Friday …
– Of course we will win Finland, reports an experienced attacker to cod Martin Röymark.
– Of course the hard game is coming and Finland is a big, big favorite, he continues.
The countries have faced 92 times and only eight Norwegians have left the trough as winners. The last time this happened was in a practice match in Lillehammer in April 2013, when the home team was 3-1 better.
– On Friday, we will block the wefts and position ourselves correctly. Then we hit counterattack goals. We need a good goalkeeper game and close defense to win, Röymark lines.
At last season’s World Championships in Latvia, the Lions choked the snails 5-2.
– Finland will be strong at the beginning of Friday’s match, when there is a lot of crowd and voice in the Arena. The Finnish team is hardworking and hard-skating, so we have to play with special discipline. When we trust ourselves, we win, goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland estimates.
The last time the Lions slipped into the Norwegian banana peel at the Austrian World Championships in 1996, when they scored 1-1 in Vienna, was in the championship.
Night and day
Norwegian veteran striker Martin Röymark announces that Finland will crash on Friday. Jussi Saarinen
Röymark played in Tappara in the 2016–17 season.
– This new arena is reportedly even louder than the old Hakametsä. Fantastic to play here. I only have good memories of Tappara when we won the Finnish championship, the striker who hockeyed in the Norwegian league’s Vålerenga this season recalls.
Haukeland hockeyed at TPS in 2018–19 and at KooKo in 19–20.
– I love my time here. There is a difference between Finnish and Norwegian hockey culture than at night and during the day. Hardly the general public in Norway at the moment even knows that we are playing the World Cup. Our players, who have only played hockey in Norway, see what it’s like to play in a country where hockey is a big sport, Haukeland, who has been sweating this season at Färjestad in Sweden and EHC in Germany this season.
Norwegian brasserie Henrik Haukeland is familiar from the Finnish Championship League with goals from TPS and KooKoo. Jussi Saarinen
These men plan to make history in the opening match of the World Cup on Friday. Jussi Saarinen