Spain 4-1 Finland
by Adam Millington
at Stadium MK

A TRIO of headed goals helped to get Spain’s Euro 2022 conquest underway as they reigned triumphant over Finland in Milton Keynes.

It got off to as bad a start as they could have imagined when Linda Sällström became only the second player to score a goal in the opening minute of a Euros match (the other being England’s Karen Farley in 1995) to put Finland ahead on the stroke of 50 seconds.

Her low, cross-goal effort beat Sandra Panos and sent the Finnish travelling support delirious, ecstatic to see their side leading against one of the favourites to go the difference.

Of course this is a Spanish side far from at its full strength – losing Jenni Hermoso before the tournament and Alexia Putellas earlier this week saw them be severely neutered – yet even still they were the better of the two teams.

Finland dug deep and battled hard, working together as a unit to try and keep the Spanish attacks at bay. At times they even tried to forage a way through their opponents’ defence and increase their advantage, but it never seemed likely.

In truth, this was a rather one-sided affair; Spain had been wrong-footed early on, but they weren’t going to let that continue.

And so, when Irene Paredes latched on to an excellent delivery from Maria Caldentey, who had been posing a threat throughout the match, Spain got their just rewards and set the tone for how the game would pan out.

They took the lead before the break, Mapi Leon turning provider this time as Aitana Bonmati nodded home from 12 yards, and there was only ever going to be one eventual outcome.

That isn’t to say that Jorge Vilda’s side were perfect though, in fact they were far from it. While they may have looked strong in their attacking, there was a distinct lack of cohesion between the front line and the mix of Esther Gonzales and Lucia Garcia just didn’t seem to work.

They scored another, this time Garcia heading in a Leon cross, but those offensive issues remained. The razor-sharp attacking play which many have become accustomed to while watching Spain just couldn’t have been further away; instead this was somewhat sloppy.

A late penalty saw Mariona Caldentey get herself in on the act in added time, rifling into the top-right corner after a foul on Marta Cardona in the box forced the referee to point to the spot.

Spain’s dominance while not at their best isn’t to say that Finland weren’t strong, they just fell victim to one of the world’s greatest sides. Goalkeeper Tinja-Riika Korpela displayed exactly why she is regarded so highly in the eyes of many with her excellent shot-stopping skills to avert the scoreline from going any further.

Her work wasn’t enough on its own though, and the strong contingent of Finnish supporters who cheered along to the sound of a megaphone and drum all game long will be left feeling that they maybe could’ve done more.

It was heartening to see the 16,819-strong attendance at Stadium MK for a game without the host nation, a sign of what this tournament can produce with good travelling support and a neutral fanbase who appreciate the value of football on display.

Spain (4-3-3): Panos; Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Ouahabi (S. Garcia 61’); Bonmati (Del Castillo 79’), Guijarro, Guerrero (Aleixandri 61’); L. Garcia (Pina 86’), Gonzalez (Cardona 79’), Caldentey

Subs not used: Gallardo, Misa, Andres, Sarriegi, Abelleira, Carmona, Pereira

Finland (4-4-2): Korpela; Koivisto, Pikkujamsa, Westerlund, Hyyrynen (Kuikka 66’); Oling (Rantanen 87’), Summanen (Ahtinen 85’), Alanen, Engman (Sainio 46’); Franssi (Danielsson 85’) Sällström

Subs not used: Talaslahti, Tamminen, Auvinen, Kemppi, Heroum, Kollanen, Rantala

Referee: Kateryna Monzul (UKR)

Player of the match: Mariona Caldentey

Attendance: 16,819

Match rating: 7/10