Kahlert said himself after the match that it was going to be very difficult for them on Thursday. Oh really? Bayern have quite a mix of players. US players Hagen and Cross came after the winter break, when Bayern were in bad need of a boost, after finishing the first half of the season very close to the relegation ranks. Both have now extended their contracts and will stay on. Let's see, a few names from today's line-up (see whether you recognise any here)... Kathrin Längert, ex-Duisburg goalie, somewhere around no. 3 or 4 for Germany now Sandra de Pol, ex-Swiss national player, over 30, already ended her career last year or so but then came back Katharina Baunach, injured with some mysterious osteoporosis in her knee for almost two years, but now back and hopefully on her way back into the national team too. I'm happiest for her today! Rebecca Huyleur, promoted just this season from the junior team (or come from another local club, I don't remember, but in any case just 19) Wenninger and Schnaderbeck are 21-year-old Austrians (Austria isn't exactly known for its international successes yet...) Feiersinger is a young Austrian too; she played for Herford in 1st Frauen-Bundesliga last season already - her father was a well-known football player in Germany too, so every commentator will mention at least once per game that she's his daughter Bürki, Swiss national player (returned to the national team now when Voss-Tecklenburg took over) Isabelle Bachor came from Bad Neuenahr a few years ago; she was on the national team for a while, more hovering on the fringes though, and hasn't been called up for about three years now Ivana Rudelic (who scored the 2nd goal), junior national team player Lena Lotzen, latest addition to the senior national team Conspicuously absent, injured: Julia Simic and Petra Wimbersky (the latter wasn't even in the stadium today, or did anyone see her) Then there are the Banecki twins, both obviously struggling with injuries (Sylvie on the bench today, Nicole on the stands), neither of them has really been able to realise their full potential, I would say. Well... congratulations, Bayern. That was well deserved. And perhaps the pictures of the modest and happy Bayern ladies can improve the image of Bayern as a club in Germany a bit too...
In football you can never write off anything, but seeing how they were already underdogs for the CL final before today's game, I don't think it would be crazy to suggest Lyon will be going home as winners come Thursday night in Munich . As for Kahlert, I get the feeling that things will only be more of the same from him next season too.
I'm not sure if I have a special Wimbersky detector... but when you saw the Bayern Unavailables hopping around in the stands after one of the goals, only one remained seated and didn't look particularly enthused. *sigh* Sometimes when I see Wimbersky these days, I go back to Youtube in search of her fantastic Women's Cup-winning goal from 2008. I haven't found it since, but I could swear it was the last time I saw her looking happy. On the other hand, it was just fabulous to see Baunach looking happy and, indeed, like the life and soul of the party. Fingers crossed for more of that! Her ball control brings tears to my eyes.
That old Wimbersky goal (from a free kick) was a beauty. I can't believe nobody seems to have saved it for posterity.
Well, when you concede like a dozen CKs to the opponents (some of them useless), they'll end scoring anyway, eventually. While watching Lewandowski covering her head to protect herself while jumping , on the goal's CK, I wondered (multiple times) if it was really so better playing her than Kumagai in this match. I honestly don't think that Saki could have done worse on that corner... Also Bartusiak made some embarassing mistake (like when she lost a ball, towards the end of the match, leading to a major chance for Bayern). Basically i could bet that Kumagai could have played better (or at least not worse) than both Frankfurt's CBs, yesterday... Was the match played in Köln? The audience looked quite warm, and, given that they were 15.000+ if i am not wrong, I guess there were some locals between them for sure (in the end Frankfurt and especially München are significantly far from Köln, aren't they?). So can we say that Frauen DFB-Pokal final was quite a success in audience?
When you say "warm", I guess you can't mean the chilly temperatures in Köln... The audience was OK, but on a declining trend - it was the third Cologne final, there were 26,000 the first year, 20,000 the second, and now 15,000... so next year we may have to take the Big Soccer crowd.
Train travel between Cologne and Frankfurt is quick and painless (just over an hour, usually) and if you book far enough in advance, it's not too outrageous price-wise either. Munich to Cologne is an entirely different kettle of fish - though it seemed like the crowd was more red than anything yesterday.
It's pretty much a universal law (kinda like a gravity) that a Bavarian ALWAYS roots for the FC Bayern. Tribal obligations, ya know!
Stéphanie Wendlinger, one of my favourite Freiburgers, is transferring to 3rd league club Sand, who don't know yet whether they'll manage to get promoted back into the 2nd league. I didn't see that coming. (She's 31, maybe she's wanting to begin to wind down. But it's definitely a loss for Freiburg. Who'll get all the bookings in future? )
Nope, she's now signed with 1st league newbie Gütersloh. Good for them! In other news, Gütersloh have put in a request to DFB for a special permission to play their home matches on artificial turf, and on a field which is a tiny bit smaller than the standard size.
After all her injuries, I'm pleased for Baunach. She finally plays on a major stage again, shutting down the always dangerous Garefrekes, helping her team to lift a trophy in front of the never fond of a Bayern player eye's too, showcasing her ability in front of the one and only Miss Silvia Neid . Now let's see how many steps backward Bayern's team of wasted/lost potential can take next season . From the highlights of the game it seems that Frankfurt were slightly confused on who should play before the CL final, so to make Kahlert's team selection easier come Thursday's showpiece, the fates decide to add Bajramaj to the cast of quality players watching the game from the stands . No league, no cup, and from the looks of things no Europe next season either, but how the hell did they even make it this far .
That headline looked like quite a coup to innocuous football fans in Germany - they thought it was champion and cup winner Dortmund's star Robert Lewandowski who was joining the Bayern men. The local online portal Reviersport.de reported that the "Lewandowski" transfer article got them the highest click rate in their history.
From those of you who follow the German league, I was wondering how Sarah Hagen is doing at Bayern and how she is percieved in Germany. She was last year's USWNT U-23 leading goal scorer and IMO, should replace Wambach on the US full national team. I am pulling for this kid to get some valuable experience in Germany and hopefully start getting call-ups with the US senior national team. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.
She's doing great! Bayern were really struggling before the winter break and have rallied impressively, and people are putting that down to a great extent to her (and the other US newbie, Niki Cross). She has scored 2 goals in 9 league matches (it feels like more, from the enthusiasm I've seen in comments), and she scored a critical goal in Bayern's cup final against Frankfurt last weekend. Everyone seems to be relieved and happy that she's decided to sign for two more years.
Thanks for the insight. Like I said, I'm hoping she will get the valuable experience in Germany and one day replace Abby as the target forward on the USWNT. That's if the US coaches are smart and develop this kid. -but that's not always a given.
Here is a video interview with Petra Wimbersky (starting around 19:11), from before the cup final. She'll have to wait another three months or so for her ACL surgery, due to a thrombosis in her calf. And then six more months... She's hoping to come back some time next year, during the 2nd half of the new season.
Ah sure after her 3 years in Germany she can play for them, she seems to be acclimatising quite well.
