Hyypia left out of Finland squad - November 10, 2000

Liverpool central defender Sami Hyypia has been surprisingly left out of the Finland squad to face Ireland next Wednesday at Lansdowne Road.

Boss Antti Muurinen named an 18-man squad for the friendly but Hyypia's name was nowhere to be seen. The Liverpool player has had a tough start to the season so Muurinen has decided to look at some other players.

Ajax's Petri Pasanen, who has been a regular with the Dutch club this season, has been named in the squad for the first time.

There are doubts surrounding the fitness of Auxerre's Tainio after he picked up an injury for his club on Saturday but still the coach has decided to include him in the squad.

Finland: Niemi (Hearts), Nurmela (Heerenveen), Jaaskelainen (Bolton), Litmanen (Barcelona), Kuivasto (HJK Helsinki), Riihilahti (Valeranga), Pasanen (Ajax), Valakari (Derby), Tihinen (Viking), Tainio (Auxerre), Nylund (HJK Helsinki), Forssell (Crystal Palace), Saarinen (HJK Helsinki), Johansson (Charlton), Gronlund (Trelleborg), Kolkka (PSV Eindhoven), Kugi (Jokerit), Kottila (Trelleborg)