Finland welcome Italy for Olympic trial run

UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ hosts Finland will kick off the finals at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium on 23 August and they will have a trial run at the arena on Thursday night with their first home fixture of the year against Italy.

Home return
Michael Käld's side, who will face Group A opponents Denmark, the Netherlands and Ukraine at the 40,000-capacity stadium, have had a difficult start to 2009, with just one win and two draws in nine fixtures, finishing seventh at the Algarve Cup in March. But they have not played at home since last August, when they beat Scotland 3-0 in Pietarsaari before a 1-1 draw three days later in Vaasa, and their last defeat in Finland was in October 2005, a 1-0 loss to Spain at the Olympic Stadium.

Good test
Italy have been in good form this year, drawing 2-2 and winning 5-1 in Australia before a 4-1 victory in Scotland last month, and will be involved in the only finals group game at the Olympic Stadium not involving Finland, their third Group C fixture against Russia on 31 August. Käld said: "Italy play a similar kind of football to the Netherlands, who we will face in the group stage. They are skilful and have pace. What we are looking for is to keep up the good defensive play from the Algarve Cup and also we need to concentrate on scoring goals and gaining confidence."

Österberg-Kalmari boost
Finland will be without two key players as both midfielder Anne Mäkinen and defender Tiina Salmén are injured. "The captain and vice-captain are both out and of course that means a lot," Käld said. "Still, it is better they are out now and not in August." There is a boost for Käld, though, as AIK Solna striker Laura Österberg-Kalmari is back from a broken collarbone suffered in the Algarve Cup. "It took almost two months to recover, but now I have played two league games in Sweden and it feels better all the time," she said.

Dress rehearsal
Österberg-Kalmari, who retired from international football in September 2006 only to return at the start of this year is relishing Thursday's game. "It is an honour to play in the Olympic Stadium and it is good practice for the finals," she said, while Käld added: "This week we have done things in a similar manner to the way we are going to do them in August. All the training sessions and schedules, getting familiar with Helsinki and the traffic, and of course the game itself on Thursday."

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