COPENHAGEN - Finland woke up with a hangover on Saturday as the
country celebrated a historic first berth at a major football finals
after qualifying for Euro 2020.
Hundreds of fans revelled long into the night at a square in central
Helsinki after Friday's 3-0 home over Liechtenstein. Finnish flags
waved proudly among tears of joy while some scaled the Havis Amanda
statue, as they had six months ago to celebrate victory at the ice
hockey world championships.
Finland are used to success on ice (and snow), the men's national
football team have waited 80 long years for this triumph. They had
previously attempted to qualify for a Euros or World Cup 32 times
before finally achieving their goal.
At full-time on Friday fans surged onto the pitch to salute their
heroes as fireworks were immediately set off in the background.
Centred around prolific Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki, the
generation of 2019 has now upstaged former greats such as Jari
Litmanen and Sami Hyypia who never managed to reach a big tournament.
Finland will play in a major tournament for the first time in their history as victory over Liechenstein secured their qualification for Euro 2020.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 15, 2019
More here 👉 https://t.co/Wr3yujTANO pic.twitter.com/TgOEaX9cyS
"We have dreamt of THIS since we first attended the 1938 WC
Qualifiers," the team's official Twitter account posted.
"THE DREAM OF GENERATIONS has come true and next summer the whole
Finland will party like NEVER before."
Finland are certain to end as runners-up behind Group J winners Italy
even with an outstanding fixture to conclude in Greece on Monday.
Their campaign started with a loss to the Italians but a run of wins
over rivals Greece, Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina put them on their
way.
Another loss to Italy and a collapse in Bosnia sparked some nerves
but a superb 3-0 win over Armenia in October set up Friday's night of
glory.