Frankfurt's Bell taking nothing for granted
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
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"Nothing has been won yet," said 1. FFC Frankfurt coach Colin Bell, despite his side heading into a second leg with ASD Torres Femminile Sassari with a 5-0 lead.
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After earning a healthy first-leg advantage in their round of 16 tie against ASD Torres Femminile Sassari, 1. FFC Frankfurt are determined to follow up with another impressive display in Italy against a side who saw coach Mario Silvetti resign after the first leg.
Frankfurt coach Colin Bell is a perfectionist, and though pleased with Sunday's 5-0 win, he saw room for improvement in the scoreless second 45 minutes. "The team has to show a certain seriousness. I am not pleased if we win 5-0 when we should have won 6-0," the Englishman said, dutifully adding that the tie "is only at half-time" and "nothing has been won yet". Accordingly, and also to keep the team in form, he will once again field his strongest possible XI for the return on Wednesday afternoon.
With a five-goal deficit to overcome, even the Italian hosts are struggling to believe in the possibility of securing a quarter-final spot. "We will try to be strong and focused and we will try to get a better result," striker Mafalda told UEFA.com. Yet neither she nor team-mate Giulia Domenichetti entertain the possibility of reaching the next round. To make matters harder, Silvetti, who applauded Frankfurt's dominance, resigned after the first meeting; Mario Pompili will be in caretaker charge.
After a two-year absence from the UEFA Women's Champions League, Frankfurt's return is proving fruitful and though the players admit an appearance in the Berlin final would be special, they are refusing to get ahead of themselves. "Of course, we are in a good position but we do not want to let up and we want to add another good performance without conceding in the return leg," said Célia Šašić, who scored twice on Sunday.
Midfielder Jessica Fishlock is hoping that there will be more space to exploit as Frankfurt aim to kill the tie off quickly, with the home side forced to chase the game as opposed to adopting the defensive mind set they embraced in Germany. "I expect a totally different game. They will have to come out now and try and score goals which will help us. It means they will have to be a lot more open," the Welsh international said.
