Page "Finland national football team" Paragraph 8

Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000.

He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen.

The team also performed quite well under him in qualification for the 2002 World Cup despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with England as well as beating Greece 5 – 1 in Helsinki.

In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group, but were the only team in that group not to lose at home.

Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal ( which seen the Finns jump from 40th – 30th in the Elo ranking ).

However, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia ( later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations ).

These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3 – 0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group.

In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania.

Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, but results didn't improve.