All in the mind for Bremen's comeback kings

Three away goals may have propelled Werder Bremen into the UEFA Cup final, but Thomas Schaaf's men believe their unshakable team spirit was the real reason for a remarkable comeback win over Hanseatic rivals Hamburger SV.

Dire straits
Bremen looked to be out for the count after just 13 minutes of Thursday's second leg at the Arena Hamburg. Already 1-0 down from last week's home game, they were a goal behind on the night too when Croatian forward Ivica Olić was put through for a simple finish. However, a mixture of German grit and Latin flair turned the match around for Bremen with goals from Brazilian playmaker Diego and Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro before Portuguese substitute Hugo Almeida nodded the ball on for Frank Baumann to add the third. A late header from Olić proved futile as the away goals rule ushered Bremen through to a final meeting with FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Istanbul on 20 May.

Team belief
"For our season and our fans it was a very important win," said Pizarro. "We can be very proud of our team because it was great team spirit that enabled us turn this match around. It's very difficult to come back after being a goal down in a situation like that one." In fact, the victory was Bremen's second in as many weeks at Arena Hamburg, having also beaten HSV in the German Cup semi-final on penalties to line up a trophy decider in Berlin on 30 May with Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Two finals
Though his side are languishing in mid-table in the Bundesliga, Pizarro added: "Now we'll have two finals in the coming weeks that we want to win. Too bad we don't have a chance of being champions in the Bundesliga, but we wanted to win all the derbies and we've won the two most important ones and that's something really special." Midfielder Torsten Frings echoed those views, saying: "It's a great feeling. We always believed in ourselves, even after Hamburg scored."

Diego absence
The only regret on an otherwise memorable night for Bremen was a yellow card that will rule inspirational midfielder Diego out of the final. His goal on Thursday, along with the four he scored in the quarter-final contests with Udinese Calcio, summed up the kind of contribution he has made to Bremen's season. "It's great to be in the final and I'm happy I could play my part," he said. "But I'm very sad that I won't be playing in it. I don't play football thinking about cards, I just play. This is part of the game and I just have to accept it, but it's a pity that this will be a game where I'll just be watching."

Hamburg hurt
Diego's disappointment was nothing, though, compared to that of his opponents, who are left with only fifth place in the Bundesliga to show for their season thus far. Midfielder Piotr Trochowski, who scored the only goal of the first leg, said: "We made too many mistakes and Bremen were clinical in taking advantage of them − it hurts. We are standing here empty-handed. Our last goal of the season will be to try to qualify for the Champions League." That depth of frustration was also felt by fellow midfielder David Jarolím. "We tried everything, played the best we could. In the end, it wasn't to be for us and that's a bitter pill to swallow," he said. "We'll need some time to get over what happened here tonight."