Confetti rained down and music of triumph powered through the stadium. But none of it was for Werder. The Green-Whites stood on the pitch empty-handed, worn out and deeply disappointed...
Confetti rained down and music of triumph powered through the stadium. But none of it was for Werder. The Green-Whites stood on the pitch empty-handed, worn out and deeply disappointed...
Confetti rained down and music of triumph powered through the stadium. But none of it was for Werder. The Green-Whites stood on the pitch empty-handed, worn out and deeply disappointed, starring out into space. It was not their day and it will not be there UEFA Cup trophy. Werder goal scorer Naldo was tear-filled as he received his silver medal from UEFA President Michel Platini then sobbed in the arms of board of directors members Manfred Müller and Klaus-Dieter Fischer. "I am so sad. You don't get a chance like this too often," said the Brazilian. Goalkeeper Tim Wiese's state of mind was clear as well. "I am also very disappointed. We stood very well on defence but did not have the vigour that we are known for. Maybe we should have shot some more. But we had chances to go ahead 2-1. Everybody fought. But in the end, the luckier team won," said Wiese.
The Ukrainians may have been luckier in finalising, but Bremen recognised the strong showing of Shakhtar Donetsk. And manager Klaus Allofs said Shakhtar played up to their potential better than Werder did. "Many people saw today that this kind of final has an entirely different level of nervous strain than any other round before it. Maybe some thought too much before the game. We have to accept that we did not give our best showing. We were not present like we needed to be in a final," said Allofs. "We could not make up for the suspensions and the injuries. Whenever Diego has missed time during the season we have been able to compensate. But when along with him, Hugo Almeida is also out and Per Mertesacker is injured, that's just too much. I am convinced that if we had our full team for this final we would have won. But that doesn't help now. It was our duty to make due with the team we had available and the others did that better."
Team captain Frank Baumann was also dejected. "That was a big loss and a big disappointment. We did not have the chances to put them under pressure and therefore take away some of the pressure off us. We had a bit of luck on the equalising goal. But after that the game was open even though Donetsk played very well and surely had a bit more run of play." Torsten Frings added: "We did not deserve the loss, but Donetsk was the better team. We made too many mistakes." And head coach Thomas Schaaf said: "We lost too many balls too easily and therefore could not organise our game how we had hoped to. But that was also due to a very strong opponent, who I would like to congratulate for the title."
