Werder Bremen won the German Cup on Saturday, a second-half goal from midfielder Mesut Oezil sealing a 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
“The joy and relief are naturally huge,” said Bremen’s team manager Klaus Allofs, just a week after having lost UEFA Cup final to Shakhtar Donetsk in Istanbul.
“We have had some difficult weeks, which makes the win ever more enjoyable,” he said. “It was important that we had a one-week break between finishing the Bundesliga and this game.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
“In the last few weeks of the season, we had a game virtually every three days,” Allofs said. “We had three players who weren’t available in the UEFA Cup final in Diego, defender Per Mertesacker and striker Hugo Almeida and they made the difference here.”
Brazilian midfielder Diego, in his last appearance in Germany before his move to Juventus, signed off by creating the winning goal for Oezil after 58 minutes.
The 24-year-old Diego, who has signed a five-year deal worth 24.5 million euros (US$35 million) to move to Italy, beat three defenders and slid a pass into the path of Oezil who fired home past Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler to give Bremen the winner.
PHOTO: AFP
Leverkusen had their chance to equalize when, with just four minutes of normal time remaining, Germany striker Stefan Kiessling fired wide for Bayer as their attack failed to beat Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese.
Both Bremen and Leverkusen under-achieved last season, finishing mid-table in the Bundesliga, and Bremen’s Germany midfielder Torsten Frings said winning the German Cup title for the sixth time in the club’s history was satisfying.
“We put in a good performance and deserved the win,” Frings said.
“The Bundesliga season was not satisfying, but we have been in two finals and won a title, which puts us in the Europa Cup, so we have to be content,” he said.
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