Armenia - Finland 7/10/06

dedi22 · 01-10-06, 15:11

average odds from betexplorer:

6.11, 3.61, 1.53

dedi22 · 01-10-06, 15:55

Finland's squad:

Goalkeepers: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers), Mikko Kaven (Tampere United), Peter Enckelman (Blackburn Rovers)

Defenders: Petri Pasanen (Werder Bremen), Sami Hyypia (Liverpool), Hannu Tihinen (Zurich), Toni Kallio (Molde), Jari Ilola (Elfsborg), Toni Kuivasto (Djurgarden), Ari Nyman (Inter Turku)

Midfielders: Mika Vayrynen (PSV Eindhoven), Mika Nurmela (HJK Helsinki) Teemu Tainio (Tottenham Hotspur), Jari Litmanen (Malmo), Joonas Kolkka (Feyenoord), Alexei Eremenko (Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast), Aki Riihilahti (Kaiserslautern), Markus Heikkinen (Luton Town), Pekka Lagerblom (Cologne), Peter Kopteff (Utrecht), Jarkko Wiss (Tampere United)

Strikers: Mikael Forssell (Birmingham City), Shefki Kuqi (Crystal Palace), Jonatan Johansson (Malmo

aoxk61 · 02-10-06, 16:24

i'll post the Armenia squad once I find out...

JNFin · 02-10-06, 23:02

Teemu Tainio and Alexei Eremenko Jr will miss Armenia and Kazakstan EURO-qualifying matches due to injuries.

Djurgården IF:s striker Daniel Sjölund will join to the squad.

I must say that those are painful losses for us. Also our captain Jari Litmanen is doubtful due to concussion of the brain.

aoxk61 · 03-10-06, 16:40

Armenia squad to face Finland and Serbia:

Goalkeepers:

Gevorg Kasparov (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Armando Hambartsumyan (Slavia Sofia, Bulgaria)
Edel Bete (KAA Gent, Belgium)
Felix Hakobyan (FC MIKA, Armenia)

Defenders:

Sargis Hovsepyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Valerie Aleksanyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Alexander Tadevosyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Karen Dokhoyan (Krylya Sovetov Samara, Russia)
Robert Arzumanyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Armen Tigranyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Jose Andre Bilibio (CD Espoli, Ecuador)
Egishe Melikyan (Stal Alchevsk, Ukraine)

Midfielders:

Aghvan Mkrtchyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Levon Pachajyan (Pyunik Yerevan, Armenia)
Samvel Melkonyan (Banants, Armenia)
Karen Aleksanyan (Zimbru Chisanau, Moldova)
David Grigoryan (FC MIKA, Armenia)
Arthur Minasyan (Ararat Yerevan, Armenia)

Attackers:

Edgar Manucharyan (Ajax Amsterdam, Holland)
Ara Hakobyan (Stal Alchevsk, Ukraine)
Armen Shahgeldyan (FC MIKA, Armenia)
Arman Karamyan (FC Ceahaul Piatra Neamt, Romania)
Nshan Erzrumyan (Ararat Yerevan, Armenia)
Aram Hakobyan (Banants, Armenia)

Nat-ALV · 03-10-06, 17:13

Aki Riihilahti is one of preference in midfield along with litmanen and tainio. Armenia is weaker but finland need more chances before they convert it to goals, they have to prevent it and practise more on finishing if they were to win. chances are high.
my medium stake on finland to get winning.

Beezeri · 03-10-06, 17:30

It will be interesting to see whcih tactics mr.Hodgson will be playing with. He's well known of his very organised and defensive minded strategy and it have been extremely succesful for Finland in the opening matches as well. This time the opponent is totally another class compared to Poland(away) and Portugal(home) and it's required for the all 3 points that Finland must attack!

During the time when former coach Muurine was at the helm we played pretty good and entertaining footballl no matter was it at home or away. Finland have some class in the team and have usually been able to defeat the lower class teams pretty easily. I think we have the upper hand against poor Armenia as well but the missing of Eremenko jr. and Tainio and probably Litmanen also is a major blow offensively. However...there are a few decent players still in the sqaud who definitely can make a difference against poorer teams like wingers Nurmela and Kolkka and central midfielders Lagerblom and Väyrynen. Forssell and Kuqi in attack must improve a lot and if they can't do it against Armenia I doubt they can't do it against any team in that case. Malmö's free-scoring Johansson is the man to trust this time also...

Looking at the odds and current situation in team Finland I hadrly see any value in an away win although it's the most probably outcome anyway. Better to skip the whole match if you ask me as there are much better bets available for sure!

aoxk61 · 03-10-06, 23:18

i think if Finland choose to go ahead and attack, it will just make it easier for Armenia to break at any point and score. Assuming that 19 year old Manucharyan will play as a striker alone up front or he may not and could even be on the bench, but once he is in and around Finland's box, the Finland defence should be on high alert

because this player is not like the rest of Armenia's players... he is something else. He hasn't played for Armenia yet properly since his move to Ajax so we are expecting better attacking play from Armenia this time round.

Minov · 04-10-06, 02:05

And if i remember correctly, these teams were in the same group in WC 2006 Qualifiers also, and Finland didn't have any trouble beating the Armenians both home and away.

jdhallen · 04-10-06, 14:18

I'm going for a home win here, nice odds...

Finland will miss Tainio and Eremenko, the latter always shines against this type of teams.

Manucharyan looks to be a handfull for the slow and aging Finnish defence.

Frontier · 04-10-06, 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdhallen

I'm going for a home win here, nice odds...

Finland will miss Tainio and Eremenko, the latter always shines against this type of teams.

Manucharyan looks to be a handfull for the slow and aging Finnish defence.

Iagree completly.Great value for armenia.
There are always tough fixtures in Kaukaz

aoxk61 · 04-10-06, 22:18

last time when Armenia played Finland in Yerevan, the result was 0-2 to Finland, which was 2 years ago. Only about 3 or 4 of the Armenian players that played in that match will be playing this Saturday... the rest of the team never played that match, including Manucharyan. Eremenko also scored in that match, so did Forsell, but Eremenko won't be playing i see.

The match in Helsinki was 3-1 to Finland. This time, Manucharyan did play for the last 30 minutes as a sub and like the other match, Eremenko also scored a goal in the match.

Beezeri · 05-10-06, 17:51

Finland's record against the worst coutries in qualifying matches since 94-95 EURO qual. is pretty solid with 16 matches played and 14 of those were won while only 2 matches finished in a draw result(Moldova and Andorra at away both 0-0).

And Finland have only improved during this time span so Armenia should be only piece of cake...or something.

Beezeri · 07-10-06, 12:56

Just to correct some wrong info here...Captain and the most important playmaker Jari Litmanen has been training with the team and should be fully fit to play full 90mins today!

Hodgson will not be making too big variations to the team and strategy...so we can expect and tough full team defence and caution attacking from Finland in a 4-4-2 formation.

Code:

Probable starting XI:

            Jääskeläinen

Pasanen - Tihinen - Hyypiä - Kallio

         Heikkinen - Väyrynen
Nurmela                        Kolkka

        Johansson - Litmanen

Vossietheref · 07-10-06, 13:02

well i must say if you look at the quality of the players i would say that finland should win but this is soccer and mmmm smells like bulagaria holland game this
Armenia plays at home and will try to attack and just score goals, finland with their quality and counterattack could easily win this game but my gutfeeling (who is 9 out of 10 times right) says the only bet is over 2,5 goals and for 2,18 i find this very tempting :wink:
predicted score 1-2

aoxk61 · 07-10-06, 18:54

Armenia starting lineup:

Kasparov
Hovsepyan
Arzumanyan
Dokhoyan
Melikyan
Melkonyan
Tigranyan
Aleksanyan
Karamyan
Shahgeldyan
Manucharyan

Vossietheref · 08-10-06, 00:59

FT 0-0
well not as i predicted thanfully i did not put money on an over
(shoudl have known with armenian homeadvantage and jaskelinen as finnish goaly)

Beezeri · 08-10-06, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vossietheref

FT 0-0
(shoudl have known with armenian homeadvantage and jaskelinen as finnish goaly)

It was not that at all! Armenia hardly tried to play and were satisfied for a draw from the first whistle. They played with a lone tiny striker Manucharyan with long balls against towers Tihinen and Hyypiä :lol: :lol: . Their coach must be a tactical genius. Well...They earned a point but thanks to bad finishing from Finland and a few quality saves from their keeper Kasparov. Home advantage had nothing to do with this result!

JNFin · 08-10-06, 14:14

I think that the main home advantage - how Armenia will gather yet many points is the crappy pitch. Someone who saw Kuqi all alone against Armenia´s great keeper and how Kuqi lost the ball - knows the limitedness of groundballs. The ball is bouncing whereever - whenever, which makes long ball strategy more functioning.

We lost at least five good chances to put the ball behind the goalie and the referee abandonned our clear goal at the first half. It is easy to be wise afterwards, but the conclusion of the 0-0 FT - was our cautious line-defending, which lied too down of our half - during all game. Mikael Forssell was a way more dangerous than Kuqi when he replaced him after 66th minute of play.

Our striker Jonatan Johansson will miss Wednesdays Kazakstan match due to back thigh injure.

aoxk61 · 09-10-06, 02:03

i watched highlights of the match and I have to say that Armenia was really lucky and our goalkeeper saved us. Finland should have really scored at least from one of those chances.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see Manucharyan's name appear in the live text commentary that I was looking at throughout the match on UEFA's site. I guess Finland's defence were too good or Armenia's midfield wasn't 'feeding' him the ball. Could someone who watched the match just give a little review about Manucharyan? Was it Finland's strong defending the reason why he hardly got a touch of the ball, or something else? Thanks.

Beezeri · 09-10-06, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by aoxk61

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see Manucharyan's name appear in the live text commentary that I was looking at throughout the match on UEFA's site. I guess Finland's defence were too good or Armenia's midfield wasn't 'feeding' him the ball. Could someone who watched the match just give a little review about Manucharyan? Was it Finland's strong defending the reason why he hardly got a touch of the ball, or something else? Thanks.

Like I said before....Armenia's playmaking was only like shooting the ball up where Manucharyan had no chance to win headers against Hyypiä or Tihinen. Manucharyan worked pretty hard up front and tried to make himself playable but was left way too alone and hardly touched the ball during the whole game. If I remember correct Arman Karamyan was the guy who actually did something on the pitch but unfortunately for the Armenians they tried to break throught from the wrong side as out right back Pasanen are way much better against skilled players than left side's Toni Kallio who even didn't get too much support from non-existent winger Kolkka.