Finland are yet to occupy a space of any relevance in world football’s consciousness, but their story is one that needs telling.
A lion’s share of you are probably familiar with the story of Pandora’s box, an artefact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod’s Works and Days. According to the myth, Pandora opened the jar, in the process defying the ban set by the gods. To punish her for her crimes, all the plagues of humanity were released from the jar: war, hunger, diseases, misery and death. Only one thing was left at the bottom—hope.
French philosopher Albert Camus (1913–1960) rewrites the myth: after all the evil of mankind, the last and the most execrable scourge to burst from the jar is hope. Just the hope that everything could be different makes the human life heavier than that of an animal which is content with its own part, never acknowledging the happiness of others.