Finns’ captain Sparv tells Ireland to expect a backlash
FINLAND captain Tim Sparv has warned the Republic of Ireland to prepare for a backlash in Dublin this evening, following a disappointing start to their Nations League campaign.
The Finns went down 1-0 at home to Wales on Thursday, thanks to Kieffer Moore’s late strike as Ireland snatched a 1-1 draw in Bulgaria courtesy of Shane Duffy’s stoppage-time equaliser.
However, Sparv is confident his team will reproduce the kind of form that secured their qualification for the rescheduled Euro 2020 finals – their first ever trip to a major tournament – when they reconvene in Ireland’s capital.
The Larissa midfielder told the Football Association of Finland’s official website: ‘I promise that we will be a team on Sunday that will fight, run and do everything that we possibly can for the Finland shirt. We are all really proud to be involved in this. Last year was quite a great time, we got to the European Championships for the first time.
‘We are still really hungry. We want more and we want to win.
‘The culture of winning that we have in the squad is one big reason why the games have gone well.
‘We know we can play better football than what we showed (against Wales).
‘Now we’re just looking towards Ireland and we have to forget about this Wales game as quickly as possible.’
Finland boss Markku Kanerva and his players have spent the last few days analysing what went wrong in Helsinki on Thursday night, and the focus will be on the final third as they finalise their preparations for the game at the Aviva Stadium. Sparv said: ‘The form of the defence was good. Wales didn’t have many good scoring opportunities, we did it pretty well.
‘There was room for improvement in the attacking game. We didn’t create good enough scoring opportunities, that does have a lot to develop.’
If the former Midtjylland midfielder was frustrated on the pitch, he was happy to see a familiar face in the shape of Real Madrid star Gareth Bale, with the pair having come through Southampton’s academy together.
He added: ‘It’s always nice to meet former team-mates. Gareth, of course, has created quite a career for himself. He has won the Champions League a few times and plays great football.
‘He is still a really humble and kind person – that side I value the most in him.’