Finland and Slovakia: almost same but very different

[boredmale]

Aren't Canada and Finland the only 2 countries where hockey is #1?

 

[member 305909]

Hockey is definitely more popular than soccer in Finland but people are interested in how the Finnish team plays in euro- and world cup-qualifiers only to be disappointed time and time again.

Also, many people take interest in the EPL, a legacy from the 70's, as well as watch the champions league.

It is the Finnish domestic league which gets to be mocked by many Finns who otherwise watch soccer. Well, the truth is that the Finnish domestic league indeed is rubbish.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

Hockey is definitely more popular than soccer in Finland but people are interested in how the Finnish team plays in euro- and world cup-qualifiers only to be disappointed time and time again.

Also, many people take interest in the EPL, a legacy from the 70's, as well as watch the champions league.

It is the Finnish domestic league which gets to be mocked by many Finns who otherwise watch soccer. Well, the truth is that the Finnish domestic league indeed is rubbish.

This is us but our hockey league not our football league

 

[stastny12]

This is us but our hockey league not our football league

Its not good yet, but I would say that is better and better every season.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

Wrong, hockey is without doubt more popular than soccer in Finland.

Came here to also state that.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Aren't Canada and Finland the only 2 countries where hockey is #1?

Latvia

 

[member 305909]

Came here to also state that.

A question of success. If Finland ever qualified for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered a much bigger achievement than any hockey-success.

Well, no hope of that happening. I mean Finland qualifying.

 

[Urbanskog]

A question of success. If Finland ever qualified for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered a much bigger achievement than any hockey-success.

Well, no hope of that happening. I mean Finland qualifying.

Based on what? It's not like qualifying for a 24-team European Championship would be much of an achievement.

 

[ijuka]

A question of success. If Finland ever qualified for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered a much bigger achievement than any hockey-success.

Well, no hope of that happening. I mean Finland qualifying.

Uh, how? In terms of public recognition? Definitely not, no one in Europe nor the rest of the world would give a rat's ass about whether Finland qualifies for world cup. All sorts of counties do it all the time.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Uh, how? In terms of public recognition? Definitely not, no one in Europe nor the rest of the world would give a rat's ass about whether Finland qualifies for world cup. All sorts of counties do it all the time.

That's not actually true you know, only handful of new countries (from Europe) as a matter of fact,
and,... it would be a really big thing if we would qualify, bigger what Iceland was.

Last 6 World Cups, only 5 new countries from Europe: Iceland,Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Ukraine (host country), Slovenia.
If you look at it worldwide, (near past) its not a big number each time
(2006 World Cup was an exception; 5 new African countries made their debut's)

Football is the largest and most widely spread sport in the world, if a country like Finland qualifies, IT IS A BIG THING.

 

[Jussi]

That's not actually true you know, only handful of new countries (from Europe) as a matter of fact,
and,... it would be a really big thing if we would qualify, bigger what Iceland was.

Last 6 World Cups, only 5 new countries from Europe: Iceland,Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Ukraine (host country), Slovenia.
If you look at it worldwide, (near past) its not a big number each time
(2006 World Cup was an exception; 5 new African countries made their debut's)

Football is the largest and most widely spread sport in the world, if a country like Finland qualifies, IT IS A BIG THING.

Ukraine hosted the Euro with Poland...

 

[member 305909]

Uh, how? In terms of public recognition? Definitely not, no one in Europe nor the rest of the world would give a rat's ass about whether Finland qualifies for world cup. All sorts of counties do it all the time.

We are talking about Finland. If Finland qualifies for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered in Finland a way bigger achievement than any hockey-titles.

I wonder do the people in Iceland consider their football-success as their best ever sport-achievement or are their handball-medals still more appreciated.

 

[Urbanskog]

We are talking about Finland. If Finland qualifies for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered in Finland a way bigger achievement than any hockey-titles.

I wonder do the people in Iceland consider their football-success as their best ever sport-achievement or are their handball-medals still more appreciated.

Once again, by whom? 24 teams qualify for the UEFA European Championship and Finland is the 26th largest country in Europe and among the wealthiest. I don't know how does the number of registered players compare to other countries since there don't seem to be statistics on that but in no way would that be an achievement. It's not like managing to eat a meal without spilling food on your clothes would be considered an achievement either even if you have never managed to do that before.

 

[ijuka]

We are talking about Finland. If Finland qualifies for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered in Finland a way bigger achievement than any hockey-titles.

No it isn't? Especially in Finland where hockey is the #1 sport people care about.

Winning a championship is a far bigger deal than being in top freaking 24 in Europe in football. As I was saying, all sorts of random teams have made it to top 24 in Europe. Not so much when it comes to winning major hockey championships.

Don't compare Iceland to Finland, Iceland has about the same population as Oulu.

 

[Saekk]

We are talking about Finland. If Finland qualifies for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered in Finland a way bigger achievement than any hockey-titles.

I wonder do the people in Iceland consider their football-success as their best ever sport-achievement or are their handball-medals still more appreciated.

World Cup i would agree with, Euro though? Nah.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I dont know much about Litmanen, but what I could say is fact that Hamsik is alltime best goal scorer for Napoli. He surpassed Maradona.

Skrtel played also many many games for the Reds like Hyppia.

Litmanen, my childhood favorite, is still a legend in Amsterdam. They had some great players in the 90s, including Sami Hyypia, Joonas Kolkka, Mika-Matti Paatelainen, Antti Niemi (and he was a goalie too haha). Despite that, they never even got close to the level Slovakia reached in the last 10 years.

In Finland, hockey is far more popular than football. In Slovakia it's the other way around.

 

[llwyd]

We are talking about Finland. If Finland qualifies for the euros or the World Cup it would be considered in Finland a way bigger achievement than any hockey-titles.

I wonder do the people in Iceland consider their football-success as their best ever sport-achievement or are their handball-medals still more appreciated.

Maybe by some but to my mind qualifying to Euros these days should not be that exceptional - and it isn't, bar to Finland... And if you would put a vote to all Finnish sports fans whether to take the Olympic gold in hockey (with best available players) or to qualify to Euro Championships in football, I would say that it would be overwhelmingly in hockey's favour.

 

[OskarOskarius]

The main reason is that football is the main sport in Slovakia, which is evident when we look at coefficients/rankings:

FIFA ranking (national team):
Slovakia: 1483
Finland: 1378

UEFA National (national team):
Slovakia: 28,555
Finland: 20,501

UEFA country coefficients (club teams):
Slovakia: 15.625
Finland: 7.275

Finland have done well recently in international football, but if you compare Finnish vs Slovakian football players then Finland isn't even close. They have no players close to the level of Skriniar, Hamsik and Lobotka.

 

[OskarOskarius]

Maybe by some but to my mind qualifying to Euros these days should not be that exceptional - and it isn't, bar to Finland... And if you would put a vote to all Finnish sports fans whether to take the Olympic gold in hockey (with best available players) or to qualify to Euro Championships in football, I would say that it would be overwhelmingly in hockey's favour.

I say the chance that you qualify to the Euros is smaller than the chance that you win Olympic gold.

 

[Urbanskog]

I say the chance that you qualify to the Euros is smaller than the chance that you win Olympic gold.

The chance of Crosby scoring over 85 points in a season is considerably higher than the chance of him being able to eat 40 hot dogs in ten minutes. Which one do you consider to be the bigger achievement?

 

[OskarOskarius]

The chance of Crosby scoring over 85 points in a season is considerably higher than the chance of him being able to eat 40 hot dogs in ten minutes. Which one do you consider to be the bigger achievement?

Depends on the size of the hotdogs, doesn't it?

 

[Urbanskog]

Depends on the size of the hotdogs, doesn't it?

It really doesn't, but the average size if you really feel that this specification is needed.

 

[OskarOskarius]

It really doesn't, but the average size if you really feel that this specification is needed.

It's hard to say, I don't know a lot about hotdog eating contests.

 

[alko]

So, after 2019 it is 3:1 in terms of gold medals. Lets hope, that in 10-15 years we will have such fit team, that without any NHL star they will win gold.

 

[Albatros]

Finland have done well recently in international football, but if you compare Finnish vs Slovakian football players then Finland isn't even close. They have no players close to the level of Skriniar, Hamsik and Lobotka.

That's certainly true, but under that group things get more even pretty fast, most Finnish national team players would be in the discussion for the Slovak national team as well.