Slovakia shocked Finland with an early 2-0 lead.
Then forward: National Champion Marco Antilla.
With his first two goals in the tournament, the 203cm bastard started a turn that leads Finland to the World Cup semi-finals.
“Maran”, as it is called in Finland, did it again.
In 2019, Marco Antilla became an all-Finland national hero when he went from questionable captain of the World Cup squad to a great gold champion after suddenly scoring goals in the quarter-finals and half-and-doubles in the final when the Lions won the gold medal.
Since then, the 36-year-old has participated in the Olympic gold medal and is now once again part of the Jukka Jalonen World Cup team. Not because he’s impressed so much in the domestic league, but when it comes down to it, he’s so far ahead.
And after the quarter ended, the home team was under pressure. 17-year-old Adam Sikora put up 1-0, and Pafull quelled Reginda Tampere with a 2-0 score.
Entrance to Antella. New Brynäsbacken Niklas Friman fired a shot that could be controlled by Antilla just before the first half and at the start of the second he received a play as a gift from a Slovak player, back and whipped with a score of 2-2.
– It’s too huge to be Antilla again. We haven’t seen much of him in the tournament before. He wasn’t a factor, says Matthias Norström in Viaplay.
Another Orebro acquaintance decided
Slovakia fought back well after the tie. But in the end, the Finnish leadership puck came. Four minutes into the final chapter, Sakari Maninen pushed 3-2 from close range. A player who, like Antella, belonged to Örebro during his career.
Slovakia created some break even chances but the hunt for local gold continues for Finland. In the last second of the match, it came 4-2 in an open cage. Marco Antilla came up against the empty cage – and instead played with Sako Minalanen.
– That says a lot about Antilla, winning is more important than goals, says Matthias Norström.
The arena in Tampere was boiling when Antilla took home the match’s guitar prize.
If the United States holds out against Switzerland, this means that Finland will face the Americans in the semi-finals, while Canada will face the Czech Republic in the second semi-final.
