At Aftonbladet, Sweden will be given an early start in the playoffs.
Finland lost to Sweden in the group stage, but it is possible that the teams will no longer face each other in this World Cup tournament. Jussi Saarinen
Finland’s convincing 3–0 victory over the Czech Republic meant that Finland grabbed the group victory in front of Sweden’s nose.
Tre Kronor finished second and will face Canada as the reigning world champion. Surprisingly, the block performance of the maple leaf shirts only justified the third place in Helsinki.
Sweden, of course, was not happy with the semi-final resistance.
– Sweden had bad luck when Canada met now. With second place, this should not happen, Aftonbladet Mats Wennerholm stated in his writing.
Wennerholm estimates that Sweden will fall to Canada. Lions, on the other hand, are thought to have better success at home.
– It is not even possible for Finland to fall in front of the home crowd in Tampere in the quarterfinals. Not especially against Slovakia, Wennerholm piled up.
10-0
Finland secured first place in the group stage final. Jussi Saarinen
There was a special contribution to the struggle between Finland and the Czech Republic. When winning the block, Finland would face Slovakia and Germany in third place. The Czech Republic was certainly pleased with the fact that it would receive a fairly favorable resistance, even at a loss, if Germany were to oppose it.
Canada would have skated in second place. Finland may have had a cliché more desire to win, because for Slovakia Finland has not lost at the World Cup and Olympic level in 18 years.
– When it comes to motivation, it was 10–0 for Finland even before the game even started, Wennerholm said about the game between Finland and the Czech Republic.
“Thoughts Elsewhere”
Wennerholm analyzes that Finland, Canada, the Czech Republic and the United States will advance to the semi-finals, which will face Switzerland winning the A-block.
If that were to happen, Sweden would be the only Group B successor who would not make it to the semi-finals.
– Both teams (Finland and the Czech Republic) wanted to push Canada into the arms of Sweden in the semi-finals, and that’s what happened, Wennerholm waved.
The block phase ended on Tuesday. The semi-finals will be played on Thursday.
– No risks were taken in the game and there were hardly any tackles at all. There were two teams in Kaukalo whose thoughts were already somewhere else, Wennerholm summed up the match between Finland and the Czech Republic.
In his story, Wennerholm predicts that Finland and Canada will meet in the “dream final”. Aftonbladet bet Canada on winning the final.