Best Bet: Back England U21 -1.5 at [2.09 Betfair]
England are 1.38 favourites to beat Finland in the opening match of the 2009 European Under-21 Championships. Not surprising, really, given that the Finns are making their debut at this exalted level of competition and needed penalties to beat Austria in their play-off tie.
At one point in the first leg in Austria, Finland were two goals down, but not for the first time in their qualifying campaign, they were dogged enough to come back from an adverse position. They won six of their eight group games, and thus won Group Six, but the margin of victory was a single goal in every case.
Coach Markku Kanerva was an international centre-half as a player and has built a hardworking team in his own image. The strikers are expected to make defensive contributions, but for the system to work they must also be prepared to counter-attack quickly. Kanerva's first-choice goalkeeper, Tomi Maanoja, misses the finals tournament through injury, however, and it remains to be seen how big an impact this will have on the team.
The most important player is Kanerva's captain, Tim Sparv, a tall midfielder who plays his club football for Halmstads at the ground at which this game takes place. In case his coach didn't know, Sparv will have been able to fill him in on the threat posed by Theo Walcott, alongside whom he played at the Southampton academy.
At this level of football, the English team in general should be regarded as talented. Names that do not usually make or break potential viewers' decisions about whether to watch a Premier League match or not are likely to become quite prominent as the tournament progresses.
Craig Gardner, for example, is a versatile squad member for Aston Villa, and not much more, but for the England Under-21s he has recently been the right-hand part of Stuart Pearce's attacking trident. He might be replaced by Walcott for this game, but has had some encouraging words to say about the Three Lions' preparations. 'Team spirit in the camp is massive,' and, although it is doubtful that 'the whole of England will be watching us,' it is reasonable to infer that the players are taking this 'massive tournament' quite seriously, until perhaps their performances show otherwise.
England qualified easily for a play-off with Wales, which they found a little tougher, but eventually won 5-4 on aggregate. Six of their seven group wins were by margins of at least two goals, and they were ahead at half-time in the same number. England -1.5 are [2.09] on the Asian handicap. They can be backed at 2.04 to be ahead at half-time and full-time at Betfair. Take your pick.
