Ice Hockey World Cup 2022 | A cheerful prime minister with wine in hand thrilled Finland. The Northerners embarked on wild celebrations

Not only Suomi hockey players but also the country’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin became the star of Sunday night. The 36-year-old Social Democrat in the national team jersey delighted the people of her country with spontaneous emotions in the stands of the stadium in Tamperre.

A photo of her smiling face with a winning gesture and a glass of wine in her hand became a hit in northern Europe.

“This is 36-year-old Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is going through the best moments of her life,” Canadian reporter John Rodenburg commented on VIPka.

For a politician, it was certainly a welcome relaxation, because in recent weeks it has been dealing with the historical transformation of its country, which has decided to step out of years of neutrality and is applying to join NATO. Among other things, she visited war-torn Ukraine last week, including places where Russians committed civilian massacres.

Crowds of Finnish hockey fans gathered on Market Square in Helsinki on Sunday night with Manninen’s winning goal. The square, which is traditionally the center of Finnish hockey success celebrations, was flooded by thousands of other people, wrote the Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.

“Tonight, the thoughts of a pandemic lasting more than two years seemed to be blown away by a gentle westerly wind … the roof of the famous Kappeli restaurant, “said the daily Hufvudstadsbladet.

During Sunday, the authorities had a plywood fence built around a 100-year-old fountain with a statue of a mermaid, which stands in the middle of the Market Square. They wanted to prevent hockey fans from climbing the fragile statue. About an hour after midnight local time, however, the two-meter-high plate could not withstand the pressure. As soon as the fence fell, the fountain was full and the mermaid, known as Havis Amanda, was given a hockey jersey.

In the morning, a lot of bottles and glasses floated in the fountain, so the water was drained from it. The statue, which is part of the collection of the Helsinki Museum of Art and according to the Finnish press, is awaiting reconstruction, but according to initial reports, it did not suffer any damage.