The treble dream lives on with Alexandra Popp and Co. The dramatic tour de force in London gives VfL Wolfsburg courage for a successful final sprint of the season – and a furious Champions League final against FC Barcelona.
“We’re going to Eindhoven, we’re going to Eindhoven – we’re going, we’re going, we’re going to Eindhoven!” chanted the traveling fans in the stadium, the footballers of VfL Wolfsburg danced on the London lawn long after the final whistle – and Tommy Stroot was just happy. “That’s why I became a football coach – moments like that: the final whistle, I see the whole group running onto the pitch and I’m just proud of the situation,” he told NDR.
The dramatic 3-2 semi-final win after extra time at Arsenal WFC put the “wolves” in a party mood. Ten years after the last treble, the Wolfsburg dream lives on from another triple triumph from the Champions League, DFB Cup and championship. “It’s an amazing feeling, I can hardly put it into words,” said Pauline Bremer, who scored the winning goal for the “wolves” a minute before the end of extra time.
Popp: “Damn axe, I can’t take it anymore”
Fitness was the decisive factor in the end, said Popp: “You’ve already seen that the Arsenal players stretched again and again and also had cramps. Of course that does something to us, for example to go a step further.”
The attacker didn’t want to overdo the fact that she was able to go the full 120 minutes after a three-week break due to a calf injury: “Let’s say that’s my job,” explained the 32-year-old – but admitted that she had thought at the final whistle : “Damn axe, I can’t take it anymore.” Stroot praised his captain: “She’s extremely important. She has the gift of reading a game on a mentality level. She’s there, an important factor and a stabilizer.”
Roord: “We have nothing to lose”
Popp, who won the Champions League with VfL in 2013 and 2014, is counting on loud support from home in the final on June 3 in Eindhoven. “I hope that many Germans will come, that the Dutch will also be on our side and that the stadium will be for us,” she said, sending warning words to the competition: “The nice thing is that we haven’t played out all our quality yet . That can then happen in the final.”
“Of course we still celebrate – with one or the other delicious drink. So Cola or Fanta of course…”
— VfL striker Alexandra Popp
Jill Roord doesn’t care that the players from Lower Saxony are just outsiders against FC Barcelona: “It’s a 90-minute game. Anything can happen. It’s going to be a real challenge. We have to be brave and have nothing to lose,” said the midfielder . Her Dutch compatriot Lynn Wilms emphasized: “Once we’re in the final, we obviously want to win it.”
Stroot: Signal effect for the coming weeks
In fact, VfL doesn’t have to hide in any way, says coach Stroot. The match on Monday in front of more than 60,000 fans should have a signal effect for the next few weeks. “We took a lot from this game. We were 1-0 down, came back and in front of this backdrop we were convinced we could win this game,” enthused the VfL coach to push through.”
In the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg is one point behind Bayern Munich with four games left to play in the season and must hope for a blunder from the league leaders. VfL meets SC Freiburg in the DFB Cup final on May 18 in Cologne. “We know what’s in store for us,” assured Popp, looking confidently at the triple title chance before the World Cup in the summer.
“There’s still a little bit left in the championship, and we’ve got the cup final in front of our chests. We definitely want to win everything there,” said the VfL captain, who hopes this will have a further effect for the Lower Saxony team: “Then we’ll go big Self-confidence after Eindhoven.”
picture series
Popp with brains, joker Bremer stands out – VfL women in the individual criticism
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NDR 2 Sports | 05/01/2023 | 11:03 p.m
