Finland’s fortunes will rest on Pukki’s fitness

Teemu Pukki’s fitness issues will be a major headache for Finland as they take part in their first ever Euros this year.

The Finnish striker shot to fame three seasons ago when he achieved promotion to the Premier League with Norwich in a season which saw him grab the headlines with 29 goals and 10 assists.

Despite Norwich’s immediate return to the Championship, Pukki was one of the few Canary players who impressed. He followed up his 11 goal-laden Premier League campaign with another fantastic stint in the Championship. He scored 26 goals in the recently concluded campaign which took Norwich right back into the big time.

He has not only been Norwich’s most important player over the last few years, but has also been a huge component in the Finland side who are set to earn their debut Euro appearance.

Pukki damaged his right ankle ligaments earlier in May which has made Finland coach Markku Kanerva sweat on the availability of the 31-year-old marksman. Teemu Pukki has scored 30 goals in 90 matches for his national side and is just two short of Jari Litmanen’s record, which shows how important he is to the side.

“Our fingers are crossed for him. No other striker probably in western Europe has had more games in the last three years,” Norwich manager Daniel Farke said. “We hope everything goes well with the rehab so that he’s ready for the Euros.”

Finland are building a young and promising team for the future, which means Kanerva will have other options to look at if Pukki isn’t available for the opening fixture. Marcus Forss and Onni Valakari, both 21, gave a glimpse of things to come last November, scoring their first international goals in a 2-0 win at World Cup champion France.

With that being said, the entire Finland will hope that Pukki comes back to full fitness in time as they look a much better side with him leading the line. Finland are in Group B which includes the likes of Belgium, Denmark and Russia.