Frankfurt and Sparta win through
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Article summary
1. FFC Frankfurt and AC Sparta Praha both gained final-day Group B3 wins to set up quarter-final ties against Arsenal LFC and Djurgården/Älvsjö.
Article body
German champions 1. FFC Frankfurt and AC Sparta Praha both gained final-day victories in UEFA Women's Cup second qualifying round Group B3 to set up mouth-watering quarter-finals against Arsenal LFC and Djurgården/Älvsjö respectively.
Opening wins
Frankfurt, the inaugural winners of the Women’s Cup in 2001/02, celebrated their return to the competition after a year's absence with a 4-0 win against Swiss group hosts SC LUwin.ch. Renate Lingor struck on ten minutes, and after the break Birgit Prinz, Kerstin Garefrekes and late substitute Susanne Hartel added to the tally. Sparta took only seconds to go ahead against 2004 quarter-finalists Gömrükçü Baku through Iva Mocová, and Monika Matysova and Alexandra Mouchova secured a 3-0 victory.
Sparta hold Frankfurt
LUwin.ch then ended Gömrükçü's campaign with a 5-0 win. Sarah Weidmann, Martina Moser, Isaballe Meye and Fabienne Daetwyler scored before half-time, with Daetwyler adding a fifth 23 minutes from time. That meant Frankfurt would have gone through with three points against Sparta, but Sandra Smisek's 62nd-minute goal was cancelled out just two minutes from time by Marketa Ringelova's equaliser.
Crushing victory
However, Frankfurt were not about to be denied, and stormed to an 11-1 win against Gömrükçü. By half-time it was 8-0, Pia Wunderlich and Prinz both having claimed hat-tricks. Wunderlich made it ten in the 47th minute, but the final goal did not arrive until seven minutes from time through Hartel, before Aygun Cirkhlarova struck a minor consolation for the Azerbaijani club.
LUwin.ch pipped
That result effectively ended Sparta's hopes of topping the group, and the Czechs still needed a point against LUwin.ch to keep hold of second. In the end Sparta claimed the only goal to reach the last eight at the third attempt, where they will play 2004/05 runners-up Djurgården/Älvsjö of Sweden next month.
'Dream opponents'
Arsenal, second in Group B4, will play Frankfurt over two legs, whose manager Siegfried Dietrich was delighted, describing the English champions as "dream opponents". He added: "Arsenal are a strong team with a name that will attract spectators."
