Umeå reflect on another near miss
Saturday, May 24, 2008
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For the second year running Umeå IK have fallen just short of a third UEFA Women's Cup and Lisa Dahlqvist said she was "sad and empty" after their final defeat.
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Frustrating finale
Two Conny Pohlers goals early in each half seemed to put Frankfurt out of reach, but first Lisa Dahlqvist pulled one back from the spot and after Petra Wimbersky made it 3-1 with a free-kick, Frida Östberg's late goal set up a frantic but frustrating finale. The thought of what might have been was in the minds of all the players as they reflected on the match.
Dahlqvist drained
"I feel very sad and empty," Dahlqvist told uefa.com. "If they hadn't scored their third goal so quickly after ours we would have had more energy to fight on." As for the competition record 27,640 crowd, Dahlqvist admitted: "It was something I have never experienced, there was so much noise we couldn't speak to each other, which stressed us."
Östberg praises winners
Östberg felt they missed a trick just as a week ago in the 1-1 home draw, where an early Marta goal was quickly cancelled out by Pohlers. "We played too many long balls like in the first leg and we should have used the space in midfield more than we did," the Umeå captain said. "I agree Frankfurt were the better team today and deserved to win."
Higher standard
In her first Umeå spell, Östberg – who rejoined this winter – won the UEFA Women's Cup in 2003 and 2004 but says the competition has come on a long way now. "Definitely there is a huge difference," she said. "I think that is what playing in Europe is all about. [Semi-final opponents Olympique Lyonnais] and Frankfurt were the two best teams we have every played against – they run more, they pass better, their goalscoring is better. That's what is enjoyable."
Substitute so close
Swiss starlet Ramona Bachmann was dropped to the bench for the second leg only to come on at half-time and go agonisingly close to turning the game, just as she did in the goalless second leg at Arsenal one year ago. "It must be fate that again I came close," the striker said. "I was not happy that I did not start but [coach Andrée Jeglertz] explained why because I always want to know and when I got on I was really fired up and wanted to show what I could do. I felt I played well but unfortunately the ball would not go in for me."
