Coaches celebrate 'great advert'

1. FFC Frankfurt coach Hans-Jürgen Tritschok was understandably ecstatic after his side defeated 1. FFC Turbine Postdam 3-2 in the UEFA Women's Cup final second leg to record a 7-2 aggregate victory and win the trophy for the second time. Conny Pohlers twice put Potsdam in front on the day but first Steffi Jones and then Renate Lingor, a penalty, replied before Birgit Prinz crowned Frankfurt's victory with the winner in added time. Tritschok's opposite number Bernd Schröder insisted his team could still be proud of their efforts over the season as a whole, however, and both coaches agreed that the final had been a worthy advert for women's football.

Hans-Jürgen Tritschoks, Frankfurt coach
We can be proud of our team. No one would have given us a chance after we lost 6-2 to Potsdam at Easter, but we came back to deservedly win this trophy. I can only agree with Mr. Schröder – today's match was a great advert for our sport, we need more games like this one. We had the better opportunities, even in the opening phase, when Pohlers scored out of nowhere. Obviously I was very pleased with our second-half performance, where we also enjoyed the better chances. I wasn't too nervous when Pohlers gave them an early lead, because now we are much more stable and more of a team then we were back in April. My players told me at half-time that they want to go forward and win the game. Had we gambled away our 4-0 first-leg lead, we would have been everyone's fools.

Bernd Schröder, Potsdam coach
We've seen a great match, especially in the first half, which showed what women's football is all about. We tried everything to turn the tables by bringing on two additional strikers at half-time. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out, our pattern of play was disrupted in the second half and the second yellow card for Babett Peter proved decisive. We have been the best team in Germany this year, in men's or women's football, and this is something we can be proud of. Frankfurt are deserved winners of the trophy, especially if you look at both matches, although I think we would have deserved a draw today. The past few weeks have been physically very tiring, and I really take my hat off to the team for showing such a performance today.

Siegfried Dietrich, Frankfurt general manager
This was a very important day for women's football, we set a new record for European club teams with a 13,200 crowd, and with all the support we are getting from the UEFA and the German Football Association, today's match will show its full importance in the weeks and months to come.