TURIN, Italy — When Finland defended its honor in hockey by dispatching Sweden in the final of the 1995 world championships in Stockholm, the victors' chartered plane flew to Helsinki with Finnish fighter jets on either wing.
The Finns were welcomed home as conquering heroes. As an ebullient radio announcer intoned during a wild celebration, touched off by the 4-1 victory, "God isn't Swedish after all."
The Finns' inferiority complex against the Swedes, whom they will face today in the gold-medal game, runs as deep as a Helsinki summer day is long. Sweden ruled Finland until 1807, and Swedish is still the second official language there.
"That's probably the most hated team we face in hockey," Finnish captain Saku Koivu said. "I think it goes just way, way back to years and years ago when we were under Sweden."
He added, "We feel that they always think that they're better than us."
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Defenseman Christian Backman said Friday he relished the prospect of an all-Nordic final after Sweden beat the Czech Republic 7-3.
"The Finns get a little bit nervous when they play us," he said.
In its Saturday editions, The Expressen, a Swedish newspaper, cheekily explained that it was carrying a link to the country's immigration Web site as a public service for all those Finns who want to change their citizenship in time to be on the winning side today.
"Swedes may have jokes about Finns, but it goes both ways," said Antti Laaksonen, a forward for Finland.
On Saturday, Erkka Westerlund, the Finnish coach, was asked whether today's game would be like little brother going against big brother.
Westerlund pondered the question a few seconds. "Who is the little brother?" he replied.
Finland has never won an Olympic championship. It won the silver medal in 1988 and the bronze in 1998, beating Sweden in the quarterfinals. Sweden won the gold medal at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
"I think for Finns, it's probably, maybe, the biggest game ever," Koivu said. "Not just that we're playing in the gold-medal game in the Olympics, but we all know the importance of playing against Sweden."
The Finns would like to forget the last game between the two. Sweden came back from a four-goal deficit to win 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the 2003 world championships.
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