After two goals by Claudio Pizarro and a 2-0 lead in Vienna's Franz Horr Stadium, it looked very much like Werder Bremen would beat Austria Vienna and collect their third...
After two goals by Claudio Pizarro and a 2-0 lead in Vienna's Franz Horr Stadium, it looked very much like Werder Bremen would beat Austria Vienna and collect their third...
After two goals by Claudio Pizarro and a 2-0 lead in Vienna's Franz Horr Stadium, it looked very much like Werder Bremen would beat Austria Vienna and collect their third straight Europa League group win. But things ended up being quite different ...
Austria pulled a goal back through Emin Sulimani in the 73rd minute and then Schumacher shocked Werder with the 2-2 equaliser in the 87th minute. And the draw was disappointing for Werder, who controlled much of the game. And the Bremen players were accordingly dejected talking to the media afterwards. "We are very disappointed that we allowed two goals," said playmaker Mesut Özil who also offered a reason for losing the points. "In the first half we played 100 percent, and we faded in the second half. And you cannot do that."
"In the first half we did a lot of good things. But we should have scored more goals," said head coach Thomas Schaaf, who added: "And then in the second half we were just too passive and didn't have the will to score the decisive third goal." Manager Klaus Allofs saw things similarly as Schaaf. "We didn't want to do too much and were not as disciplined as we were at the beginning of the game. And you pay for that. On offence, we had too many missed passes, and that increased the pressure on our own goal and then things happen," said Allofs. Two-goal scorer Claudio Pizarro added: "After the 2-0 lead, we controlled the game and had to score the third goal. Unfortunately we did not play concentrated enough at the end." And Clemens Fritz offered some valuable insight: "We have to take that as a warning. You cannot win by just coasting."
