Finland manager ‘very sorry’ for calling up 51-year-old football player

Nanne Ruuskanen was unable to play for Finland because of the mix-up (Picture: Getty)

Outi Saarinen, manager of Finland Women, says she is ‘very sorry’ for accidentally naming a 51-year-old retired football player in her squad.

Saarinen made the blunder ahead of Finland’s 1-1 Women’s Nations League draw against Serbia on Tuesday – mistakenly selecting Stina Ruuskanen – who won the last of her two Finland caps 29 years ago.

The Finland Women boss made a mix-up and was trying to select Nanne Ruuskanen, a 23-year-old current Finland defender with the same surname.

Saarinen’s error was not spotted before the teamsheet deadline passed, meaning that the younger Ruuskanen become ineligible to face Serbia.

Saarinen, via a statement from the Finnish Football Association, said: ‘Nanne was, of course, disappointed.

‘But [she] took the news very well considering the circumstances. I am very sorry for the mistake.’

There is no relation between the two players but the older Ruuskanen laughed off the incident, joking she’d be ready to play ‘if the call comes’.

Finland’s Women’s Nations League clash with Serbia ended in a 1-1 draw (Picture: Getty)

”I’m definitely ready if the call comes!’ the 51-year-old told Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.

‘Just yesterday I was playing in a hobby league match… so my game feel is good.’

Football fans compare incident to Mike Bassett scene

Football fans have poked fun at the incident on social media, comparing it to a scene from British satirical mockumentary comedy film Mike Bassett: England Manager.

At one point, Bassett’s secretary accidentally calls up to the squad two players called ‘Benson and Hedges’, aging players in the Third Division.

When trying to work out who they are, Bassett realises she has mistaken the brand of cigarettes Benson and Hedges as the names of players.

‘Reminds me of @mike__bassett giving caps to Benson & Hedges,’ @BingIsBackBaby posted on X.

‘Did she call up Benson and Hedges?’ @awfulpigeon added on Reddit. Another user, @Zlint, asked: ‘Is their coach Mike Bassett?’

Has this ever happened before?

Fabio Capello made the same mistake while working as Russia head coach (Picture: Getty)

It’s not the first time a football manager has selected the wrong player, with former England boss Fabio Capello previously making the same mistake.

While working as the head coach of Russia’s men’s team between 2012 and 2015, the Italian called up Lokomotiv Moscow’s reserve centre-back Andrey Semenov into a 23-man squad to face Armenia.

Capello was actually attempting to pick a 24-year-old defender with the same name who played for Terek Grozny.

The wrongly selected player had never even represented the Lokomotiv first team when he received the call up and said: ‘I was surprised, to say the least.’

Lokomotiv even published an article on their website celebrating the news, but they were forced to change it when the Russian Football Federation corrected the squad list and apologised for the mistake.