Finland rocked by injury news

By Edmundo
October 6 2006

The Finnish national team has had to endure a flood of bad news ahead of their trip to Caucasus to face Armenia in European Championship Qualifying Group A match on Saturday and later Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with Teemu Tainio the latest to join the injury list. Arguably the most important member of the team, Tottenham's Teemu Tainio has undergone a surgery on his groin and is forced sidelines for a few weeks. This news comes at a bad time for Roy Hodgson's side. With Alexei Eremenko, who has been handed the captain armband at his domestic club Saturn in Russia, suffering from calf injury, FC Köln's tenacious midfielder Pekka Lagerblom out with an undefined injury and legendary playmaker Jari Litmanen, 35, doubtful with a concussion, the team seem to be lacking midfielders. Djurgården's Daniel Sjölund has been called up to replace the trio. Litmanen has participated in training, but the representatives of the team are unwilling to speculate on whether he is able to play.

"Litmanen's mental side is in good shape, he's been training full of enthusiasm. And the body? I don't know, we weren't in the same shower", commented HJK-midfielder Mika Nurmela.

34-year-old Nurmela is expected to start the match on the right of a newly-shaped midfield, most likely featuring Feyenoord's Joonas Kolkka, Luton's Markus Heikkinen and PSV's Mika Väyrynen.


Finland squad to face Armenia and Kazakhstan:

Jussi Jääskeläinen (Bolton), Peter Enckelman (Blackburn), Mikko Kavén (Tampere United).

Sami Hyypiä (Liverpool), Hannu Tihinen (FC Zürich), Toni Kuivasto (Djurgården), Petri Pasanen (Werder Bremen), Toni Kallio (Molde), Ari Nyman (Inter Turku)

Mika Väyrynen (PSV Eindhoven), Joonas Kolkka (Feyenoord), Markus Heikkinen (Luton), Peter Kopteff (FC Utrecht), Jari Ilola (Elfsborg), Aki Riihilahti (Kaiserslautern), Mika Nurmela (HJK), Jarkko Wiss (Tampere United).

Jari Litmanen (Malmö FF), Jonatan Johansson (Malmö FF), Shefki Kuqi (Crystal Palace), Mikael Forssell (Birmingham), Daniel Sjölund (Djurgården)

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