Staab wary of wounded Potsdam

The champagne is still on ice for 1. FFC Frankfurt chairperson Monica Staab despite her side's 4-0 UEFA Women's Cup final first leg win against 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam.

Coaching experience
Having led Frankfurt as coach for eleven years, Staab has amassed an impressive trophy collection in women's football, not least among them the inaugural UEFA Women's Cup in 2002. However, even though a victory is on the cards in this season's final, Staab - who has been Frankfurt's chairperson since 1999 - is taking nothing for granted in Saturday's home leg.

uefa.com: Frankfurt beat Potsdam 4-0 in the first leg. Can it still go wrong after that impressive display?

Monika Staab: I have been a coach long enough myself, and this season has often shown that Potsdam are quite capable of scoring four goals, as we ourselves had to see [they lost 6-2 to Potsdam in a recent meeting]. We are halfway there, but we need another spirited and focused performance to take the title.

uefa.com: What are your hopes for the return leg on Saturday?

Staab: First and foremost we want to break our own European attendance record for club teams. Back in 2002 [for the first ever UEFA Women's Cup final] we had 12,100 spectators at Frankfurt's Waldstadion. If we have good weather on Saturday, we could reach the 13,000 or 14,000 mark. This would be huge - there have never been that many spectators at a women's club game, at least not in Europe. The importance of the match is highlighted by the fact that German chancellor Angela Merkel will be there and that for the first time in Germany a women's club match will be broadcast live nationwide.

uefa.com: How important would a second UEFA Women's Cup be for your club?

Staab: Winning again would be of huge importance. We would the best in Europe again, a win would ensure European football for next season, and we have made quite good progress in Europe over the past few years.

uefa.com: You coached the 2002 UEFA Women's Cup winning team, who beat Umeå IK 2-0. What was different back then?

Staab: It's always special to win a new competition. We entered the history books by doing so and it was a great experience for all of us. We played on a Thursday night in heavy rain and had there been good weather we might have had even more of a crowd. You simply cannot repeat that experience. Women's football made a huge step forward then, a step you can hardly exaggerate. The media coverage increased substantially, as did the interest of sponsors. If anything, you could compare it to Germany's national side winning the 2003 [FIFA] Women's World Cup.

uefa.com: Some people say that Frankfurt have an aging team, while Potsdam have lots of young talent.

Staab: I have to set something straight there. It might seem like this to outsiders, but one must not forget that Potsdam brought some players in when they were in their mid-20s, like Britta Carlson or Conny Pohlers. However, we are happy to have competition from Potsdam. We would like to have even more competition from other clubs in the years to come. More competition is good for the progress of women's football.

uefa.com: Are you very interested in promoting young players?

Staab: That's right. We have about 130 girls playing for our club, many of them very, very talented. But last week has shown what the [older] players are still capable of. After all, they represent all our success in the past ten years.