The first part of the four-part Werder-Hamburg spectacle is over, and it had everything any Bremen fan could have wished for ahead of time. After 134 minutes of high energy...
The first part of the four-part Werder-Hamburg spectacle is over, and it had everything any Bremen fan could have wished for ahead of time. After 134 minutes of high energy...
The first part of the four-part Werder-Hamburg spectacle is over, and it had everything any Bremen fan could have wished for ahead of time. After 134 minutes of high energy, Werder leads the four-game North Derby series 1-0 as the Green-Whites reached the German DFB Cup for the ninth time. And on 30 May, Werder could hoist the trophy for the sixth occasion.
Shortly after the semi-final thriller, Bremen were left with plenty to digest, as manager Klaus Allofs admitted. "These kinds of games are not healthy for your heart or your voice. There were a lot of positives to take from this: a road victory, in Hamburg, and advancing to a final. The team showed their quality and their character. There was also luck involved but the team worked for it," said Allofs.
Head coach Thomas Schaaf was also a bit inebriated by the success. "We took advantage of everything here. My compliment to both teams, who played an absolutely outstanding match. The emotions were really high and the crowd was loud enough. It was a very nice setting for the game. And the match included everything: goals, chances, tackling, extra time, shoot-out. That was really close and I'm so happy that we have the first game over with. We already had confidence but this will give us additional assurance," said the Bremen coach after the game.
An exhausted Clemens Fritz added: "What happened here was everything you expect in this kind of derby. Both teams were playing for the victory and demanded everything the other team had to offer. There was a lot of fight, many chances, a red card - everything. And in the end our absolute will to win came through. You could sense how much reaching this final meant for us. We have failed to pick up quite a bit in the league and now we can compensate for that. We want to win this cup. And now we will enormous self-confidence for the next games against Hamburg and the final."