The national team’s number one goalkeeper Otto Fredriksson is said to have fully recovered from a shoulder injury that sidelined him from club matches for weeks. However reserve goalie Jussi Jääskeläinen says he’s eager for a chance to play for his country in the qualifying round of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.
Jääskeläinen said however, that he’s aware that Fredriksson is the first pick for head coach Stuart Baxter.
“Since I joined the national team, of course I want to play too, so there’s a kind of competitive situation. I spoke with Stuart and promised I would come to help, since Otto hasn’t been able to play with his club for three weeks,” Jääskeläinen added.
“But of course Baxter made it clear to me that Otto is his first choice for goal keeper,” he added.
The reserve goalie promised to be on hand to support the home team, since earlier last week it wasn’t clear that Fredriksson had returned to the game form after a shoulder injury.
“We’ll go on one game at a time and review the situation after each match,” Jääskeläinen said of his participation in the team.
Next Tuesday Finland will face off against Hungary, who signaled their winning intentions by crushing San Marino 8-0 in a home game on Friday.
“San Marino isn’t the most dangerous of opponents, but of course the result says a lot about Hungary as a threat. We’ll have to keep our heads absolutely clear in this match on home turf. We haven’t been able to do that in other qualifiers,” he warned.