Consolatory fans were waiting at Bremen airport. Hundreds of supporters held out until the airplane carrying the Werder team finally landed with an hour delay. But the fans...
Consolatory fans were waiting at Bremen airport. Hundreds of supporters held out until the airplane carrying the Werder team finally landed with an hour delay. But the fans...
Consolatory fans were waiting at Bremen airport. Hundreds of supporters held out until the airplane carrying the Werder team finally landed with an hour delay. But the fans cheered and chanted: "Berlin, Berlin! We're going to Berlin!" Inside the plane, manager Klaus Allofs asked the team to wait to grieve about the missed chance to write their names in Werder's history books and fully concentrate on the final two games of the season. "Everyone can be disappointed today. We can all be a bit down today. But starting on Friday we need to fully concentrate again. We still have two important tasks awaiting us," said Allofs, looking ahead. "The game against Wolfsburg will be very, very difficult for us. But it still has a lot of meaning for us. It won't be just a holiday for us."
Allofs called for a concentrated performance by the entire team in the Bundesliga finale, at the same time saying the Green-Whites will be the underdogs: "During our game against Donetsk, Wolfsburg were able to sit on the couch and put their feet up. And then when the game went into extra time they were rubbing their hands." Head coach Thomas Schaaf's focus is already set on the next games. "The disappointment and frustration can only be short-term. We have control over changing our frame of mind. A lot of people will be watching these last two games. The season is not yet over," said the coach, who also asked his team to realise what has already been accomplished. "We were in a final in which many top teams in Europe would have gladly played. We had a long way to get there and we can be proud of that. Altogether it was a positive season until now. But no player can take solace in that just yet. The disappointment is still too fresh."
Still, the Green-Whites have already begun looking forward to their second final in Berlin. "Everyone has to give a bit more and we'll get our title," said keeper Tim Wiese about the German Cup final. And one player really looking forward to Berlin is Diego, who said: "The team fought on Wednesday. But it was clear that with Merte (Per Mertesacker) Hugo (Almeida) and me out that we were missing three important players. At least Hugo and I are back now. And we definitely want to win the second final."
