It’s a Grand Place!

But unfortunately Teemu Tainio’s injured. With Jarkko Wiss and Markus Heikkinen also ruled out, this leaves the midfield looking a little threadbare, and so FC Zurich’s Veli Lampi has been called up.

I’ll be honest, I know next to nothing about him, but according to Wikipedia he’s that staple of modern football, a defensive midfielder. Let’s hope Värynen has a big game and the others are able to support him.

There will be 2,000 Finland fans there on Saturday, which sounds like a hell of a lot to me. Like I said before, Belgium’s reputation as a centre for fermented beverage production has undoubtedly played a big part in that, but I think people also have a genuine belief that Finland might not fuck it up this time.

There’s a hell of a lot of experience in that squad, and a lot of medals, but none of them have played at a major tournament before. They’re all thinking that this might well be the last best chance for a decade or more, so they’d best make the most of it.

And then next Wednesday we will be graced with the majestic presence of that model of administrative probity, transparency and a simple advocacy of certain kinds of women’s underwear, Mr Sepp Blatter.

I know some Finnish journalists read this blog. I don’t know what kind of press Blatter has hitherto received in Finland. But he’s not just a figure of fun, he’s also a crook. Read Andrew Jennings’s book if you don’t believe me. Maybe some coverage of this kind of thing wouldn’t go amiss next week?