Juliane Wirtz had tears in her eyes, but Florian Wirtz comforted her.
He’s actually the little brother. But while the 18-year-old has already completed four senior international matches and played 14 times in the European Cup with Bayer Leverkusen, the two-year-old sister had just lost the biggest game of her football career in the most unfortunate and bitter way imaginable.
“It’s a great feeling that he was there,” said Juliane Wirtz after the 4-3 penalty shoot-out in the cup semi-final with Bayer against 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. The currently injured brother had followed the game from the stands: “It’s a sibling connection. He hugs me and listens to me. He’s a great support.”
Bayer had led 1-0 in the game and 2-0 on penalties, but the dream of the first final remained unfulfilled. Florian Wirtz also has Juliane ahead of him, although he was not substituted on as a 17-year-old in the 2020 cup final in Berlin against FC Bayern (2: 4). In the end, Potsdam reached the final right around the corner from Bayer – on May 28 in Cologne against series winners VfL Wolfsburg.
“I don’t even know what to say, otherwise I’ll start crying,” said Juliane Wirtz on Sky: “It’s just bitter. We were so close. It’s a slap in the face and it hurts damn. But me I’m damn proud of us girls.” It must have been her little brother too.
Potsdam is in the final for the eighth time and for the first time since 2015. Since the third win in 2006, four finals have been lost in a row. Final opponent Wolfsburg, on the other hand, has always won the title in the past seven years.