Even if Danish star Christian Eriksen’s dramatic collapse overshadows the 1-0 win, Finland can enter their next group game against Russia on Wednesday with plenty of optimism. With the “triple” in Saint Petersburg, the newcomer will be in the round of 16 if Denmark draws a maximum of one day against Belgium. But the coup should be the first victory over the Russians in nearly 109 years.

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The Finns defeated Russia 2-1 on June 30, 1912 at the Olympic Games. The premiere was for the Russians, whose empire at that time still belonged to the Grand Duchy of Finland. The two teams have not faced each other for more than 80 years, and since 1995, the Finns have suffered the same number of defeats in four matches.

The Finns have “recovered well” from the shock of Denmark

“When we started this tournament, we had a dream. Beating Denmark was the first achievement. We already have the following milestones in mind,” coach Marco Kanerva said on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. “We are looking forward to tomorrow’s match. We took a lot of confidence from the Denmark match and believe we can be equally successful tomorrow.” Again, you can expect Finnish defensive forces in the event of a counterattack.

It also worked on Saturday, when Denmark were defeated 1-0 thanks to a goal from Joel Pohjanpalo after boycott and concerns for Eriksen, who is now recovering. “We are happy that Christian Eriksen has improved again,” Kanerva said. “We will never forget these photos even after the tournament.” “The Denmark match was a big challenge – in every way. We recovered well from it.”

The Russians were waiting to win six matches in the European Championship, the last of which was a 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the group stage in 2012, after all, “Spornaga” reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. In 2018. Now Stanislav Cherchesov’s men deservedly lost 3-0 in the opening match against Belgium and they are already under a lot of pressure. “It was sad,” Mario Fernandez said of the atmosphere in the Russian team after the first match. “Now the mood is back again.”

Miranchuk expects ‘patience’

It seems that this is much needed if we are to turn things around. “We have to stop the stupid mistakes we made against Belgium, eliminate the flaws in our game and think faster,” said midfielder Roman Zubnin. Alexey Miranchuk was waiting for patience. The Finns are accustomed to defense and counterattack. “We have to put pressure on them not to do that,” the midfielder said. “We have to be patient.”

Meanwhile, the most experienced Russian player is threatened with the end of the European Championship. Defender Yuri Zhirkov injured his right knee against Belgium and had to be replaced. “I’m afraid we lost him throughout the tournament,” said the 37-year-old Cherchesov.

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