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'Eat elephant one piece at a time': Finland U21 prepare for do-or-die Denmark clash

Mika Lehkosuo is taking charge of Finland at their second U21 Euro
Mika Lehkosuo is taking charge of Finland at their second U21 EuroAntti Aimo-Koivisto/LEHTI / Sipa Press / Profimedia
Finland U21 must beat Denmark U21 tonight to maintain any chance of reaching the Quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time.

But three points might not be enough for the Little Owls, after a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands and a 2-0 loss to Ukraine leaves them bottom of Group D with one point.

That's because with teams level on points being separated by head-to-head results ahead of goal difference, a point for Ukraine against the Dutch will see them advance with four points.

Therefore, Finland must beat Denmark in Kosice, hope the Netherlands beat Ukraine and finish with a better goal difference than the Dutch. The Finns' goal difference of -2 is currently one worse than that of the Netherlands.

Understandably, winning and scoring as many goals as possible is the priority for Finland U21 head coach, Mika Lehkosuo.

"We haven’t won in this tournament, and of course we’re going to go for a win tomorrow. We have to score as many goals as the situation requires," he said to the Finnish FA before the match.

"Our team is very professional in every way. The result of the Ukraine game disappointed us all, and our performance wasn’t as good as we had hoped. We need to improve our game to get a good result."

He also admitted he will be keeping an eye on what is happening in the other match, "We will naturally follow the match between Ukraine and the Netherlands. We will react during the game to what happens in the second match.

"We have been adaptive during our games before. We are going to eat this elephant one piece at a time."

With two wins by a one-goal margin so far, Denmark could rest players ahead of their Quarter-final tie, but Lehkosuo is not being drawn into the Dane's plans.

"It is difficult to predict how Denmark will approach tomorrow's game. They may start to focus on the quarter-final match, because they have secured the group victory.

"We will not waste too much energy guessing Denmark's selections. We will continue on the path that has brought us to the European Championship final tournament."

Kick-off at the Kosicka futbalova arena in Kosice, Slovakia, will be at 18:00 local time. Netherlands vs Ukraine in Presov will begin simultaneously.

Follow the UEFA U21 Euro 2025 on Flashscore.

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