Oct 09,2024
There was a noticeable nip in the air as the plane load of Irish fans made their way out into the streets of Helsinki following the three-hour flight north from Dublin.
Ireland's UEFA Nations League encounter against Finland on Thursday evening will be played under lights at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium - its 9.45pm, local time, kick-off adding to the intrigue, with both sides looking to land their first points of the campaign.
Proper football weather and conditions; the September slumber giving way for an exciting Octoberfest, as Heimir Hallgrimsson has unpacked the suitcase following his short-lived honeymoon period and primed to put his stamp on the side.
First up Finland, followed swiftly by a return game against Greece in Athens as the Irish team are on the road for a week, hitting all corners of the continent, having departed Dublin earlier on Tuesday.
Talk of a relegation would not be entertained following the Dublin defeat to Greece – "don’t write us off just yet," said the Ireland coach, and again he shied away from the topic when it resurfaced at last week’s press conference.
"Avoiding relegation, I don’t think we should be going with that mindset," said the manager. "We go play in Finland, we try to get a good result against Finland. After that it’s another situation.
"Two wins for the group just makes this question a little bit silly. So, like every other game, we just go for this Finland game first to win it and we try to do it the way we think we can win it."
Granted the manager’s main and immediate focus is on building a team to suit his philosophy, while his long-term goal was to qualify for the World Cup in 2026, however, there is a sense that the team do need to make sure that they do not return home empty-handed after this two-match road-trip.
Two games in, and both Ireland and Finland have had similar experiences from their opening two games; both beaten with a bit to spare by group favourites England, while also losing to Greece in games where the scoreline did not necessarily reflect the contests as a whole.
Ireland, as we know, were the better side in that opening 45 minutes at the Aviva Stadium last month before somehow managing to lose the game 2-0, while Greece’s 3-0 victory was not representative of how the 90 minutes played out.
Finland are an experienced unit attempting to go evolve their game having missed out on Euro 2024 qualification, while Ireland are an emerging side lacking confidence following a run of bad results which date back to the time when these two sides last met.
That Nations League double-header will be most remembered for the fact that the two games were played out under a Covid cloud, and while there was little between the sides both in Dublin and in Helsinki, it was experience over youthful enthusiasm that won out on both occasions.
This time around, Ireland have a lot more caps accumulated, and are taking a more pragmatic approach to securing results under the new manager, so there is every chance that there will be something tangible to take on the journey south on Friday.
Having spoken to the media at last Thursday’s squad announcement, it was no surprise that Hallgrimsson handed the press conference baton to John O’Shea to begin this international week, in keeping with the collaborative approach of the coaching ticket.
And it was clear from listening to the assistant manager that the full focus is back in the here and now with a result the ultimate goal from this visit to the Nordic city.
"The big one will always be the result, ultimately, but if you are trying to get new ideas across and implement them, there has to be a balance to that too," said O’Shea.
"But look, we want to win, we are going into these games wanting to win, but we’re wanting to see what we’re looking for from the group, it’s striking that balance.
"Any manager will tell you the result will ultimately be the key, but if you’re telling me now, we’re going to play terrible but we’re going to beat Finland, we’re going to take it, it’s obvious."
As for the manager, again Hallgrimsson sent out the call for the players to step up and claim their shirt as he plots the course towards next year's World Cup qualifying campaign.
Troy Parrott is perhaps the standout player who has made most impact at club level over the past few weeks, and while he has yet to see a minute's action under the new manager, having been left on the bench for England and Greece, perhaps the player who has taken the road less travelled in recent seasons could be the one to put Ireland back on the path to success.
