Wolsfburg’s Sveindis Jonsdottir (above) showed impressively how much VfL towers over their opponents in Germany at the moment.
Foto: imago/Sports Press Photo
The two coaches had long since made their comments on the clear victory of the Wolfsburg women’s cup when Almuth Schult finally took his place on the podium a good hour after the final whistle. The VfL Wolfsburg goalkeeper held a bottle of beer in her left hand, apologized for her delay by pointing out a few slices of pizza that had been eaten in the winning dressing room – and then recapitulated the Mitteland Canal team’s recent cup triumph.
With the clinically pure 4:0 against Turbine Potsdam through goals from Ewa Pajor (11th, 32nd), Jill Roord (42nd) and Dominique Janssen (69th), Wolfsburg had just won the national cup for the eighth time en bloc and for the ninth th time since the premiere success in 2013. Variety looks different – from her point of view, Schult preferred to enjoy the liqueur in addition to the beer, which teammate Alexandra Popp always brings from her regular Italian to the final in Cologne. “The cup final – for us, that’s associated with the taste of Meloncello,” hummed 31-year-old Schult, who switched to Angel City in the US professional league after the European Championships in England in August.
Turbines Isabel Kerschowski will not go anywhere as a kicker. The 34-year-old, who was born in East Berlin, was warmly hugged by many of her former Wolfsburg teammates after the last game of her career – and then sadly summed up her personal final: »It’s a shame that it turned out like that. I think the defeat was two goals too big.”
However, the difference in performance between the double winners from Lower Saxony, trained by Tommy Stroot, and the league fourth-placed from Potsdam was striking. A fact that caused very mixed feelings in Sofian Chahed. The former defensive midfielder, who played for Hertha BSC and Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga, has been the responsible coach at Potsdam since the summer of 2020 – and is happy to risk a benevolent look when Wolfsburg is representing German women’s football in the Champions League. “I’m happy when VfL plays internationally and beats Barcelona there too. That makes my footballer’s heart smile,” Chahed assures, but on the other hand mentions: “I would wish for more balanced competition in the league.” For example, he observed that those who were relegated from the Bundesliga had no chance and were always rightly relegated. And the following applies to Turbine: “As a club, we have to make sure that we don’t lose touch when the train starts.”
In addition to the advance warning for the future, Turbine’s trainer also looks to a satisfactory present: “We played a good season, got the maximum out of our possibilities,” said Chahed and explained the general conditions of the two finalists for clarification: “When you see who was on the bench at Wolfsburg or was no longer in the squad – we would have kissed all of these players.«
The four-time Tunisian international was less friendly about Almuth Schult’s excursion in front of the Potsdam goal three minutes before the end of the game. Such daring final ventures are not usually launched by the industry’s gloved personnel from a 4-0 score. But only if your own team is just behind shortly before the end and is pushing for an equalizer with all its might. ‘Respect for her career, what she tore up. But I would wish that she didn’t make the trip at the end. That shows respect, it’s part of football that you just stay in goal,” Chahed wrinkled his nose at the action of the 64-time international.
“I’m sorry if that came across wrong at Potsdam,” Schult apologized later and reported on a “fantastic side-kick goal,” which she recently succeeded in training and which she apparently now wanted to repeat. The high spirits in the team after winning the championship on May 8 have led to the idea of wanting to do something special in Cologne over the past two weeks, explained Schult – who ultimately ended her trip prematurely. “The timing,” she said, “didn’t work.”
Schult then gave some thought to what the competition in the league could optimize in order to be able to hold a candle to the permanent cup winner and subscription champion Wolfsburg (seven titles in the past nine years). The goalkeeper praised the skill of the team’s own sporting director, Ralf Kellermann, in planning the squad as a “great art”. This is particularly true of the season that has just ended, which VfL had described as a season of upheaval – partly in view of a completely new coaching staff. Accordingly, Schult also shed light on the continuously growing DNA of the wolves who had come a long way and emphasized: “VfL has been characterized by incredible ambition for years.” And not to forget: “We have been the fittest team in the league for years.”
