Tritschoks hails Frankfurt finishing

1. FFC Frankfurt coach Hans-Jürgen Tritschoks praised his team's decisive finishing and concentration after their sensational 4-0 away win against 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in the first leg of the UEFA Women's Cup final. Three times in the past six weeks Frankfurt have been beaten by their arch-rivals as they surrendered Bundesliga and German Cup honours to Potsdam. However, it was fourth time lucky as fatigue finally got the better of Bernd Schröder's team, who now have a mountain to climb if they want to complete the treble. Two-goal hero Renate Lingor said the focus should be on the team despite outstanding individual performances from her, winger Sandra Smisek and striker Birgit Prinz.

Hans-Jürgen Tritschoks, Frankfurt coach
I am obviously very, very happy. We saw a very good performance from my players, and it was good for the supporters. There was a lot of action in the box so it was exciting throughout. We did everything right and have put ourselves in a great position ahead of next week. In our previous matches against Potsdam we made a lot of mistakes that we managed to cut out today. Techincally we were excellent and our forwards did a super job of putting away their chances. We had opportunities in our other games against Potsdam that we didn't convert, and that was the difference today.

Bernd Schröder, Potsdam coach
It was a very disappointing result but I don't want it to detract from what has been a great season for us. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want; that's football. Physically we just didn't have any power. We have had a long season with a lot of 'English weeks', playing Saturday then Wednesday then Saturday again, and it has been extremely tiring. But even in peak condition we would have struggled to beat Frankfurt because they played brilliantly. Conny Pohlers's chance when it was still goalless was the turning point. Before the game we knew that if they scored first our tiredness would make it difficult to come back. They have great individuals that can create a goal out of nothing, and that made it very hard.

Renate Lingor, Frankfurt midfielder
I don't think it is fair to talk about individuals, because we had a great team performance today. For example, we have Birgit Prinz, who is the World Player of the Year, and it is great to have her, but there are always ten other players on the pitch. It was the collective display that made the difference for us.