Käld begins countdown to Finland kick-off

On 11 July 2006 Finland were selected to host UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ and now the year of the finals has arrived home coach Michael Käld is counting the days until kick-off.

Long build-up
Finland face Denmark in the opening game in Helsinki's Olympic Stadium on 23 August, hoping to avenge a 1-0 defeat by the same nation in Viborg that denied them a FIFA Women's World Cup place in their last competitive game nearly three years earlier. And despite that long break Käld, who led Finland to the last four on their finals debut in 2005 with a crucial 2-1 defeat of Denmark, has welcomed the long build-up. "When we got the news that we were to host the finals we were hugely relieved that we didn't have to go through qualification," Käld told uefa.com. "This was a big bonus, and has also given me time to build a new team. During the last couple of years we've had the chance to test around 40 players."

Role models
The competition runs until 10 September with a record 12 finalists competing in Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku. Käld, appointed to the Finland helm in 2001 a year after his first job in women's football with FC United, believes the finals will be just the fillip the female game needs. "For women's and girls' football it's a very important event," he said. "Even now the number of young girls who register for football teams is increasing faster than any other group. I'm convinced that after the tournament, due to hard work prior to it and by playing national-team matches at home, every girl will find their own hero, may it be [Sanna] Valkonen or [Anne] Mäkinen, and girls won't have to put their Finland shirt on with [Jari] Litmanen's or [Sami] Hyypiä's name on the back. Girls can create their own role models."

Payback time
In November's draw Finland and Denmark were placed in Group A with first-time finalists the Netherlands and Ukraine. Käld is especially relishing taking on their Danish rivals. "We still have fresh in the memory playing Denmark at Viborg a couple of years ago. Back then Denmark blocked our way to World Cup finals. The opening game is against Denmark and we have now a chance to pay them back."

Home support
It will be the second finals running in which Finland have played in the opening game, having faced England in 2005 at the City of Manchester Stadium in front of more than 29,000 fans, a competition record the organisers intend to break on 23 August. "They will make a huge impact on the team," Käld said. "All the energy the supporters will create we'll have to use to our advantage, use it as a positive tool rather than turn it into nervousness. We are working on this, turning everything to our advantage."

To view this interview in the latest edition of the uefa.com Magazine click here.