Left Lempala, Lions captain Marco Antilla took the Lions to a tight spot on his back with a thrilling solo performance between Finland and France.
Tampere
Years, competitions, teams and men change, but Marco “Morco” Antilla remains.
The Lions captain’s position in the competition team has been criticized this year as well, but yet again the same man carries the Lions year after year and scores big goals in key spots.
Lempala’s big goal on Wednesday came at the end of a brilliant solo performance in the second half. Morco went into the attack zone and put the puck well into the net. A goal of will and skill that brought them a 3–2 lead eased the tough spirit of a Lions team that had been tormented by France.
– I don’t know where this idea came from. Sometimes he has worked in training. I tried it now that there was so much good momentum. I decided to go in the middle, luckily it worked this time, Antilla described his beautiful goal.
According to Antilla’s chain mate Ahti Oksanen, who also scored a spectacular goal in the match, Antilla decided to move to the bench in a tight spot.
The series of four led to wild celebrations of Antilla’s 3–2 goal. Photo: Heikki Soukoma / Lehtikuva
Just left?
– Well, I don’t know, I’ll try it more times. It was a tough game. The opponent made it very difficult for us. Our composure was at an adequate level and we were able to score the desired goals from positions. I am really happy about them that I sometimes make myself successful. That’s great stuff, especially in a tournament like this.
Even though Finland’s first team, which suffered from inefficiency, was not at the expected level on Wednesday, it still managed to score two goals. Even with Fives, the game is still tight.
Instead, the squares of Antilla, Oksenen, Hannes Björninen, Nicolas Matinpalo and Niklas Freimann scored two goals in flat areas. The goals were crucial, as Finland eventually defeated France by a score of 5–3 (1–1, 2–1, 2–1) in a thrilling match.
– We do the same thing almost all the time. Sometimes it works better on the offensive end, sometimes it doesn’t. We achieve our goals through hard work. There is really no other medicine for it.
– We start with the fact that we can defend well and thus get the puck to the opponent’s end and create pressure there. Now we were able to cover well, especially the first two sets. Through that, we got loose patches and spots.
With his hit, Antilla silenced his critics again, at least for a while.
Come on, everyone has the right to speak their mind. I just do my job and try to be as good as possible. and being there when needed, whether in attack or defense. There is a world of ideas, they are all good.
Another gentle giant was also spotted at the Nokia Arena on Wednesday, when skiing legend Juha Mieto watched the Lions play. “Mita” confessed in the audience that he is a fan of Morco-Marco.
– the feeling is mutual. I have met him a few times. a great person. I didn’t think I could watch his skiing live when he was skiing, but a good person and a good personality, I must admit, Antilla smiled.
