The All Blacks have their haka, the English generally pout at the camera...the Irish prance around like McFly wannabes
Ireland launch their new rugby kit

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I have no idea what the Haka has to do with Everton, so I have to award a big FAIL to this PR stunt. If you do know the link between a Maori war dance and Le Coq Sportif/Everton,...

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As part of the release of the new Everton away shirts, the 'Everton' or 'Grandoldteam' haka was performed by a troop of Maori dancers at the team store, Everton Two at Liverpool One.

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In a move that 101GG are calling "The Scouse Haka", Everton launched their new black and pink away kit by hiring six Maori men to perform a Haka version of the Everton song "If You Know Your History". Full lyrics after the jump: It's a Grand Old Team to play for, And it's a Grand Old team [...] Click to continue reading...

I have no idea what the Haka has to do with Everton, so I have to award a big FAIL to this PR stunt. If you do know the link between a Maori war dance and Le Coq Sportif/Everton,...

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Another challenging road test awaits Lawrence Smith and VPS who travel to Valkeakoski on Saturday to take on second place Haka at Tehtaan Kentta. Click to continue reading...

Haka (2nd) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

PREVIEW: This week and the next are of definitive nature as far as the title race is concerned. TPS will play both Haka and table-topping HJK this week, and two wins could see them occupy the driving seat.

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The preview of the sxth round should take many forms, the first one being a homage to Pasi Rautiainen. This Monday's match between Honka and TPS in Tapiola turned into something of a media event, with most of the Finnish under-21 squad presented with roses for their achievement in failing to win a single game or point, and scoring a solitary penalty during their three matches in Sweden.

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FC Honka (5th) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

Ilta-Sanomat's Ville Väänänen already declared that the title race will be run between three teams. There are 13 games to be played, but he is on the right track. Haka and HJK are five points adrift from TPS, who are third with a game in hand.

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Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK's South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, and someone curled a shot against the bar for the Jyväskyläns (it could very possibly have been Koskela), and Rafinha got the winner when Sinisalo's headed past his own keeper, but overall it was a pretty run of the mill Veikkausliiga match.

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Inter are not the luckiest team in Veikkausliiga, it has to be said. After losing Patrick Bantamoi to a red card in Sunday's 2-0 defeat to HJK at Pallokenttä (HJK's usual Töölö home having it's new grass rested for the Euro 2009 championships in late August), their second goalkeeper David Moncalves was sent off in the 57th minute at Ratina today after bringing down Tampere United's Aleksei Kangaskolkka and preventing a goalscoring opportunity.

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TPS won MYPA 3-1 and Lahti took a 2-1 win over Tampere United. The latter meant that my prediction accuracy fell from 100% to 50% compared to Wednesday's round of games, and I'm too disillusioned to round the games up in any more depth now. I will round them up later, however, once the whole round is over.

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Here we go again. We have two games that start at weird times. It could be a good thing, as it is very hot in Finland this weekend and people are outdoors anyway, even if it is eight o'clock in the evening. Maybe a few will find their way to a football match?

FC Lahti (1oth) Tampere United (11th), 7:30 PM

Lahti are having a difficult time in Veikkausliiga, having lost four of their last five games.

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We apologise for being unable to write a preview of last night's games, but here's an extended round-up to ease the pain.

MYPA - VPS 0-2

I can't help gloryhunting. VPS took a third consecutive win and I just have to support them. If I didn't, I would be scared by them.

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FC Inter - VPS

I am just about to hop on the VPS bandwagon. They scored two goals against RoPS on Sunday, a rare treat for their fans, and rumours are circulating that the central market place in Vaasa has already been booked for VPS' title celebrations in October.

Still, Inter are too strong for the Ostrobothnian side.

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It's not April Fools' Day, and I'm not kidding� for any other reason either. See for yourself. Tony Björk found the net on the 12th minute and Antonio Inutile doubled the lead 11 minutes later. The two goals were enough to leave RoPS all alone in the relegation spot, and anger the fans. A thread demanding the resignation of CEO Jouko Kiistala was soon opened on Finland's biggest football message board, and the fans might have a point.

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Tune in at 6 PM (GMT +2) for a last-minute preview and a minute-by-minute live blog of Saturday's Veikkausliiga top 2 clash between FC Inter Turku and Haka.

FORM

Neither of these two teams were expected to be anything more than outside candidates with regards to the title race, but top 2 they are six rounds into the campaign.

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JJK have had an encouraging start to their first ever campaign in the Finnish top flight. They have already managed to limit TPS, Haka and HJK to draws, and nothing suggests that they could not cause another upset against Honka, especially as Honka have had a poor start to this year's Veikkausliiga.

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Two Veikkausliiga games will be played on Saturday. Inspired JJK will entertain underachieving Honka and Inter will welome Haka to Veritas Stadion to what, somewhat surprisingly, is a clash between two table-topping teams.

NFN will be present in Turku, treating you to minute-by-minute updates of the game.

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OK, maybe I am taking a step too far in comparing this 19-year old to mr. Litmanen. Still, what a performance! Riski, or RR10, as his recently innovated nickname goes, beautifully set up TPS's 2-0 winning goal against VPS and also put the ball past Henri Sillanpää himself. He was composed with the ball, passing precisely and setting up a number of chances for his mates.

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Tampere United v FC Honka, Sunday 6:30pm

Tampere United have all the finesse, skill, confidence and panache of a bag of used cat litter right now. Their 1-0 loss to Haka was not an awful performance, but their goalkeeper messes up big time and they lost. he's a young lad and should be replaced, but now Mikko kaven has a knee injury.

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Inter took their third consecutive derby win in Veikkausliiga, beating TPS 2-0. The big difference to last year was that both teams were bad this time around. Inter had most of the ball possession, but that was pretty much useless, as they could only create one chance. It was enough though, as Timo Furuholm found the net to score his team's second in the 75th minute.

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Since Haka were taken over by SK-Ravintolat owner Sedu Koskinen, the town of Valkeakoski has found that most of it's night time entertainment will contribute to the upkeep of the football club, via the new Koski ravintolat company.

The closure of Dolly's and Angels, the town's well-loved Irish pub, to be replaced by a bar open only on Fridays and Saturdays, has not impressed the workers at one of the few non-Koski Ravintolat watering holes the town has left.

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HJK v IFK Mariehamn, Wednesday 6:30pm

This is, somewhat surprisingly, a top of the table clash. IFK have already beaten last season's champions, drawn with one of the favourites for this season, and had a regulation win over wooden spoon-chasers KuPS. This puts them level on points with HJK, who dropped their two points at home to draw specialists TPS.

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Tampere United v VPS, Saturday 6:30pm

The first TamU home game after CEO Sami Salonen and Sporting Director Jarkko Wiss left the club promises to be an eventful affair. Fans are unhappy at the way both men have been treated, as Wiss was not just a Sporting Director but TamU's most successful captain of all time.

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FC Haka 1 HJK 2

Highlights

MyPa 4 Tampere United 1

Highlights

Inter Turku 1 FF Jaro 0

Highlights

IFK Mariehman 3 KuPS 0

Highlights

FC Lahti 4 RoPS 1

Highlights

The all new Tehttaan kenttä is quite an experience.

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Veritas Stadion, Turku, 6:30 PM Finnish time

The main focus is on JJK, who make their first Veikkausliiga appearance tonight following two postponements. Unfortunately, the night is unlikely to delight the club or their fans. JJK failed to win in all their games against Veikkausliiga clubs during pre-season, and the first real game could not be much tougher.

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PATO's cup campaign continued on Good Friday with a trip to VAKP/2. They are the reserve team of FC Haka's farm club, whose first team is now coached by Haka striker Sami Ristilä. In effect, they are the reserves of the reserves, they play at a very low level, and were effectively cannon fodder for PATO's Third Divisions squad.

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PATO's cup campaign continued on Good Friday with a trip to VAKP/2. They are the reserve team of FC Haka's farm club, whose first team is now coached by Haka striker Sami Ristilä. In effect, they are the reserves of the reserves, they play at a very low level, and were effectively cannon fodder for PATO's Third Divisions squad.

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The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

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IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

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IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

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IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

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As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

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As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

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