Käld close to final Finland selection

Finland coach Michael Käld has a goalkeeping decision to make for his UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ squad after he announced his selection for the hosts' last friendly against Northern Ireland on 10 August.

Goalkeeping choice
The fixture at the Helsinki Football Stadium is 13 days before Käld's side begin their Group A campaign against Denmark next door at the city's Olympic Stadium, and the 22-player squad is as expected. There one change from the selection which lost 3-1 to Sweden in Pori last week is the presence of HJK Helsinki goalkeeper Petra Häkkinen in place of FC Ilves's Noora Matikainen, with Käld to decide which of the pair will make his finals squad after the Northern Ireland match, which follows a four-day training camp.

England veterans
"Petra Häkkinen will join the squad as third goalkeeper," Käld said. "We had agreed on this beforehand. After this camp we will decide whether Häkkinen or Noora Matikainen will be in the squad for the finals." If Matikainen is called up into an otherwise unchanged selection, the goalkeeper will be among ten survivors from the squad which reached the last four on their finals debut in England four years ago, alongside Petra Vaelma, Sanna Valkonen, Tiina Salmén, Jessica Julin, Anna-Kaisa Rantanen, Sanna Malaska, Sanna Talonen, and two players who have come out of international retirement in the last 12 months, Laura Österberg-Kalmari and captain Anne Mäkinen.

Finland squad
Goalkeepers: Minna Meriluoto (Hammarby IF DFF), Tinja-Riikka Korpela (FC Honka Espoo), Petra Häkkinen (HJK Helsinki).

Defenders: Petra Vaelma (Klepp IL), Sanna Valkonen (KIF Örebro DFF), Miia Niemi (Amazon Grimstad FK), Tuija Hyyrynen (HJK Helsinki), Maija Saari (Umeå IK), Tiina Salmén (Amazon Grimstad FK).

Midfielders: Anne Mäkinen (AIK Fotboll), Jessica Julin (Stattena IF), Anna-Kaisa Rantanen (Djurgårdens IF FF), Susanna Lehtinen (KIF Örebro DFF), Sanna Malaska (Amazon Grimstad FK), Anna Westerlund (FC Honka Espoo), Essi Sainio (AIK Fotboll), Katri Nokso-Koivisto (VfL Wolfsburg).

Forwards: Laura Österberg-Kalmari (AIK Fotboll), Sanna Talonen (KIF Örebro DFF), Linda Sällström (Djurgårdens IF FF), Annica Sjölund (AIK Fotball).