HJK 5-0 RoPS (Veikkausliiga)

It was never likely to form a highlight of the European sporting weekend. In the end, though, it barely even registered in its own nation’s media, which came as something as a surprise to me, having become acquainted with the sporting obsession of the UK.

I started to realise my anticipation was perhaps a little overstated upon taking my seat in the Sonera Stadion, one of the newest stadiums in Finland. Completed in 2000, it has a capacity of 10,000, and is situated right next to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium (the Finnish capital hosted the Games in 1952).

By twenty past six, however, just ten minutes before kick-off, not more than one in fifteen seats can have been occupied. The polite applause given to each of the players as they were introduced over the tannoy illustrated a further difference; I realised that there would be little of the kind of atmosphere – passionate, occasionally bordering on dangerous – that are the norm in more established leagues.

Admittedly, the clash I watched was hardly a spicy fixture. Pitting top versus bottom – hosts HJK now have a twelve point lead with twelve games remaining, while opponents RoPS have an almighty task to avoid relegation – it was not likely to be a tense encounter.

RoPS are based in the small town of Rovaniemi, in Lapland. Up against the relative might of HJK, fresh from a triumphant midweek 2-0 victory over Schalke 04 in the home leg of their Europa League qualifier, it would have taken a minor miracle for the visitors to avoid defeat.

And so it proved. After just four minutes, RoPS goalkeeper Arto Vikman comically spilled a regulation cross to give HJK striker Erfan Zeneli a tap-in. Indeed, Vikman can be held at least partially responsible for all five goals – and primarily at fault for no fewer than three.

Within fifteen minutes, the lead had trebled, more questionable defending giving Zeneli his second, with Akseli Pelvas also getting his name on the scoreboard. Predictably, the hosts saw this as an opportunity to take their foot off the pedal, and though the visitors occasionally pressed forward – most notably through left winger Omar Yasin – HJK’s goal never truly looked under threat.

Jarno Parikka notched the fourth goal on the stroke of half time, and I began to hope for double figures – something HJK had managed, after all, in an earlier round of European qualification against Bangor City of the Welsh Premier League.

It was not to be, though. Only one goal was forthcoming in the lacklustre second half – a second for Pelvas. The highlight was the half-time introduction of 40 year-old Finnish legend Jari Litmanen, which got the crowd of just over 1,000 excited. The former Ajax and Liverpool forward, who is widely acknowledged as Finland’s greatest ever footballer, was, as expected, slow and his many attempts at clever passes and other such tricks rarely worked. Not that the home fans worried too much; not at 5-0, at least.

The match as a whole was of an incredibly poor quality. Only one of the goals – Zeneli’s second – was thanks to any particular skill on the part of a Helsinki player, and even that featured another elementary mistake in the build-up. Both teams misplaced numerous passes, hacked their opponents instead of tackling them and there was an exceptional – and frustrating – lack of vision shown by most on the artificial pitch (Litmanen was an exception, but his execution let him down). With a vacuum of an atmosphere, and a fussy, whistle-happy referee (being a ref myself I am reluctant to make such a criticism) hardly made this a great advert for the Veikkausliiga. Nor, indeed, is the rampant commercialism, which saw adverts blaring out over the PA system at every dead-ball situation.

Even so, I cannot deny that I loved the experience – and it was undeniably refreshing to have a break from the glamour of the top English leagues.