The Young Lions will face the big favorite USA in the World Cup semi-final.
Gothenburg
Young Lions spent a moderate rest day in Gothenburg on Wednesday after the exciting quarter-final win.
The team did not go on the ice. The players took care of their bodies in the hall and the day passed with personal meetings. Later, it was time to go over tactical issues in view of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against the USA.
“An expectant feeling. These are really cool games. You can see from the gang that we would like to play the semifinal today. We are capable of striking. We know that our best game is enough to knock down the USA”, says the captain of the Young Lions Jere Lassila.
The puck drops on the ice Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. In advance, the setup is clear: the USA is the big favorite and Finland the underdog.
Lassila disagrees.
“Well then… I don't know about that underdog setup. I feel that there are two good teams facing each other. We are going to play to win. We have to rely on our strengths and try to find weaknesses in the USA.”
Them is not destroyed based on the World Cup tournament in Gothenburg.
The USA has rallied from victory to victory. The team bursting with great promise has been undefeated in Gothenburg so far. The USA's goal difference is a staggering 36–11.
“The clear thing is that it's not worth going to the race against the USA. The Czech Republic is actually the only team that has been able to challenge the Yanks here”, the head coach Lauri Mikkola inches.
“The Czech Republic defended with a really tight five. Every time the Yankees attacked, they had to attack five players. That's a big deal in the semifinals, too.”
Cutter Gauthier is the number one star in the USA. In the second season, the NHL's vitto reservation leads the points exchange of the games with powers of 1+9.
The USA's high-octane offensive game has convincingly cut through other countries in the World Cup.
“They can constantly create individual 2-1 superiority attacks or 3-3 balance attacks. The USA is very good at them,” Mikkola characterizes.
“We've got to kind of take away their attacking joy. Then again to attack. As a five, they're not as good at defending as a lot of other teams. Isn't that [voiton] the seed germinates in it.
Finland at, the tournament has progressed steadily since the beginning. The low point of the games was the embarrassing squat in the opening series against the great underdog Germany.< /span>
After the surprise defeat, Mikkola and his coaching group gathered the team together.
“Those are the team's own issues that we went through at the time. We got over our feelings a bit and have moved on since then,” says Mikkola.
In many respects. The opening win over Latvia freed us up and the emotional win over Sweden in the final match of the first group ignited the excitement towards the playoffs. At the moment, Nuoret Leijonat is riding a three-game winning streak.
According to Mikkola, the Finnish team has grown in popularity during the World Cup.
“The team has taken big steps since the beginning of the tournament. Probably on the mental side, especially that we have gotten to grips with the game better,” says Mikkola.
“The shared experiences have given the team confidence in their own work. The boys have made the most of it.”
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