When you ask a connoisseur about what ended up making the difference and propelling Finland, a small Nordic country fan of winter sports, to the finals of Euro football for the first time in its history, a name emerges: Markku Kanerva. The coach of the national team is considered to be the main architect of the qualification of the Huuhkajat, the “Great Owls”, in the 2021 edition of the European Championship, a competition which they started with a victory (1 -0) against Denmark, Saturday June 12, 2021.
“You really can’t say he’s the best coach in the world, acknowledges Mats Ahlnäs, reporter for public television Yle. But he managed to get the best out of this team and its players, with a simple playing system, which exploits each person’s qualities. ” For Jonas von Wendt, daily journalist Hufvudstadsbladet, it’s simple : “When you don’t have the material to compete with the best European teams, then you better find a coach who knows what he’s doing. “
Others, more seasoned, had tried it: the Briton Roy Hodgson between 2006 and 2007, then the Scottish Stuart Baxter, the Finn Mixu Paatelainen (currently coach of the Hong Kong team) and the Swedish Hans Backe. “None has succeeded in finding the right balance”, says Juha Malinen, the Under-21 coach. The Finns came to believe that their team would never get anywhere.
Latest feat in 2009
When Markku Kanerva was appointed coach on December 12, 2016, morale was at its lowest: the Grand Dukes did not win a single game of the year. The last feat of Finnish footballers dates back to 2009: that year, the under-21s managed to qualify for the Euro. It was under the direction of… Markku Kanerva, who has since become an assistant coach of the national team. At this stage, he is the federation’s best hope.
Its main asset: “He knows Finnish football perfectly”, assures Juha Malinen. Born in 1964 in Helsinki, Markku Kanerva started playing when he was young. In the schoolyard, his friends baptize him “Rive”, named after the Brazilian star Roberto Rivelino, winner of the World Cup in 1970 with his team. At 19, Markku Kanerva was recruited by the Helsinki club, then entered the national team, working intermittently as a teacher, which he often claims has helped him a lot in his duties as a teacher. coach.
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