WHAT: International friendly match Lempo-Volley - Mjølnir (Faroe Island)

WHERE: Hakkari, Lempäälä, Finland

WHEN: Tursday 5.1.2023 16:45

TICKETS: 5€

Lempo-Volley will play the first international match in its club history on Thursday, January 5. against Mjølnir, the reigning champion of the Faroe Islands. Lempo-Volley plays Finland seconf highest league.

Starting point

Lempo starts the game after the Christmas break, and the match is a perfect way to get back into the game mode. Lempon last played on December 18. and won Karhulan Veikot in a league game. Lempo was at the top spot of the Finnis first division during the Christmas break.

There are seven league games left in the spring season before the playoffs. The season continues on Sunday against Luja-Lukko.

– It cheers up when you get an opponent you've never met before. The match brings a nice change to the lineup and is at the same time an important game for the spring season, says Lempo head coach Tuomas Alatalo.

Mjølnir plays in the Faroe Islands league. The team was supposed to arrive in Tampere for the Nordic club team championship tournament, but the tournament was cancelled. So the trip changed to a three-match training camp. The Lempo game is the first.

– It's a great thing to get such a match. It's been many years since I last played international games myself. After all, it's quite different from playing the domestic series. It is a goow way to get back into the game rhythm, Lempo opposite Tuomas Sillanpaa thinks.

– Sunday's league game comes to us a little quickly after the holidays, so the game is really valuable, Alatalo says.

Rosters

Lempo gets into the game basically with the best possible roster. Of course, for an amateur team, a weekly game and an early starting time brings own challenges and can slightly affect the roster.

At the same time, the game is a great opportunity to experiment and rotate the roster. It can be assumed that coaching staff shares responsibility widely.

In the firsth half of the season Lempo's opposite Tuomas Sillanpää, outside spiker Kasimir Vuorinen and middle blocker Anssi Vesanen finished most points for Lempo. Libero Jyri Niemi was chosen as player of the month in December.

Mjølnir has two foreign professionals with him. Argentinian opposte Christian Imhoff is Tomi Rumpunen's old teammates and also the team's player coach. The team is testing out the Colombian outside spiker Cristian Barrios during their tour in Finland.

The captain is the team's setter Thorvald Danielsen. There are Faroe Islands national team players in the group, at least setter Danielsen, middle blocker Johan Arni Elisson Wang and outside spiker Steffen Rosenlund have worn the national team shirt.

There is very little prior information about the opponent's level, so the match is really unpredictable.

– We're going to play our own game system. I haven't scouted the opponent so that we can focus on our own work. That is the main thing in this match, says Lempo head coach Tuomas Alatalo.

Lempo-Volley team roster

Otteluennakko suomeksi

Follow them

Lempo-Volley: Jyri Niemi. Was chosen as Lempo's player of the month in December. A leader and a fighter.

Mjølnir: Cristian Imhoff. The 203 cm tall Argentinian is his team's player coach and is also part of the Faroe Islands national team's coaching group. Played together in Romania with Tomi Rumpunen. A 36-year-old opposite.

Live stream

The match will be broadcast live for free on the Lempo-Volley miehet Facebook page. Game starts at 16:45 and the live stream around 16:30.

Photos: Kari Kautto, Mjølnir