The footballers at VfL Wolfsburg have their sights set on the triple of championship, cup win and triumph in the Champions League this season. Before the Bundesliga restarted on Saturday at SC Freiburg, coach Tommy Stroot found warning words.
“We have to remain vigilant in all areas. We can’t buy anything with the past,” said Stroot, referring to the flawless season so far, in which VfL is still unbeaten: There were twelve wins in twelve games in the league and in the cup , four wins and two draws in the Champions League.
“We believe extremely in our potential and know what is possible.”
— Tommy Stroot
“We know that absolutely nothing is given to us and opponents against us will be highly motivated to break the streak.” But the VfL coach also emphasized: “We know that we have a duty to achieve these two national titles. Anything else would be unbelievable.”
National coach sees “comfortable starting point”
“It’s not quite over yet, but they have a comfortable starting position, they have this will and are very hungry to get very far in the cup and internationally,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg before the league restarted leading Wolfsburg on Saturday (2 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter) in the last game of the first half of the season to SC Freiburg. In the cup, VfL, who have won the cup eight times in a row, will play at 1. FC Köln on February 28th.
Pajor: “The treble is a realistic goal”
Above all, however, is the big triple goal. Just like ten years ago when the “wolves” triumphed in the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the Champions League. “That’s the greatest thing you can achieve at club level. That’s why I’m setting it as my goal and I think we at VfL Wolfsburg also have a chance of winning it. But it’s also clear that we’ll continue to work hard on ourselves and have to play at the top level,” said midfielder Lena Oberdorf to NDR.
Attacker Ewa Pajor took the same line: “The treble is a realistic goal with our squad, but there is still a long way to go.” Record winners Olympique Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain or FC Bayern Munich – after the draw on February 10, the Wolfsburg women will know who they are up against in the quarter-finals of the premier class: “We know that it cannot be planned, especially at international level. We’re extremely happy to still be around,” Stroot said.
Break short, but optimally used
His players are confident that the winning streak will continue. “We made a few good steps during the break,” said Oberdorf. At the training camp in Portugal, you mainly “worked in the tactical area,” added Lena Lattwein.
“We have an amazing quality in our squad – also across the board. And we have a good mix of fun and focus.”
— Svenja Huth
Fears that the two-week break was too short, especially for the national team, were unfounded, said Lattwein: “We didn’t have to work much at home and were able to switch off mentally and relax physically.” So she was happy to go back to training: “Hunger is very, very big.”
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Sports current | 02.02.2023 | 12:17 p.m
