European bronze puts Finland on brink of first Olympic team event in 48 years

[p]In just their second ever European semi-final, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/finland/xWtY0ri6/"]Finland[/a] were denied a shot at gold by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/4UUj2p7m/"]France[/a], who went on to lose to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/poland/r3l84Njg/"]Poland[/a] in the final. But Finland picked themselves up for the third-place play-off, where a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/volleyball/finland-xWtY0ri6/slovenia-bRQQqXZj/?mid=OUYevkjf"]3-0 victory[/a] over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/slovenia/bRQQqXZj/"]Slovenia[/a] secured their maiden medals at a major championship.[/p][p]The tournament only guaranteed a place at the Olympics for the champions, Poland, but Finland still have two chances to reach the 12-team competition in California.[/p][p]So far, six places at the Olympics have been taken, and of the six still up for grabs, three will be awarded to the top performing teams at the 2027 World Championship yet to take an Olympic berth, and the other three to the best-placed teams according to the world rankings who haven't yet qualified. [/p][p][b]The bronze in Milan took Finland to 10th place in the world rankings. Of the nine teams ahead of them, five have not secured an Olympic place thus far, and one of those is [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/russia/r9sU1Oy0/"]Russia[/a], whose eligibility to participate in the 2028 Olympics is still to be determined.[/b][/p][p]Therefore, either a strong World Championship performance next year, or maintaining their world ranking could be enough for Finland to take their place. If they qualify, they will become the first Finnish team to participate in a tournament at a Summer Olympics since the men's football team finished in ninth place at the 1980 games in Moscow.[/p][embed guid="f9430b3f-fcc8-4695-b05d-44d78ceb262d" url="https://x.com/CEVolleyball/status/2103890561363243148" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Bronze secured with 'worst shot'[/h2][p]The moment that secured the bronze medal will go down in Finnish sporting history, yet when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marttila-nooa/xE3KtCKQ/"]Nooa Marttila[/a]'s spike hit the Slovenian side of the court to spark the celebrations, it was hardly the result of a textbook passage of play.[/p][p][b]"It was one of the worst shots of my life,"[/b] said the 21-year-old who, like any sibling, was quick to blame his brother, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marttila-luka/rDNwLwJ2/"]Luka[/a], for the unorthodox effort: [b]"Luka made a bad pass three metres away and I went to hit it with my eyes closed, and hit it with all my might. It then bounced off the save in a good direction. The risk paid off."[/b][/p][p]Match point may not be one the Marttila brothers were overly proud of, but Nooa was delighted with his performance that got Finland into that position in the first place.[/p][p][b]"I think this was definitely my best game of the tournament. And to this place. I never imagined it would go like this,"[/b] he admitted.[/p]