As in the past seven years, the name of the DFB Cup winner is VfL Wolfsburg. The women of the club from Lower Saxony prevailed 4-0 (3-0) against outsiders Turbine Potsdam. With their ninth triumph, they drew level with the previous record winners from Frankfurt. “Before the season, nobody would have thought that we would get the double,” said a good-humoured Almuth Schult after the game with a beer and pizza in hand.
The clear 4:0 victory of Wolfsburg in front of 17,531 spectators in Cologne’s Rheinenergie Stadium was well deserved, but not without danger.
“The chances were there. I think we lacked determination and callousness. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, got the goal from the first chance,” said Chahed after the game, said Turbine coach Sofian Chahed. Before the game he had announced that his team wanted to play an offensive game against the favorites from Wolfsburg. It was precisely this promise that his team kept from the start. Turbine defended well and also had the first good chance of the game in the eighth minute.
After a corner from Wolfsburg, Potsdam countered and Marie Plattner found Karen Holmgaard with a through ball through a through ball, but he ran out of breath just before the goal. A first murmur went through the stadium.
As in almost the entire second half of the season, Chahed had to replace striker Selina Cerci, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury. With Gina Chmielinski, another regular player was missing. As always in the cup, Chahed trusted Anna Wellmann in goal. His opponent Tommy Stroot relied on an offensive formation with the three strikers Tabea Waßmuth, Svenja Huth and Ewa Pajor.
It was also centre-forward Pajor who headed in the eleventh minute after a corner by Felicitas Rauch to make it 1-0. Turbine had a chance to equalize shortly afterwards. Sara Agrez, who will switch to opponents Wolfsburg after the season, made a strong impact from the left, but her shot was also blocked decisively. The strong Plattner then missed the equalizer after a template from Melissa Kössler (20th).
Wolfsburg did better on the other side. In the 33rd minute, exceptional striker Pajor headed in again after a cross from Lynn Wilms and increased the lead. As time went on, the superiority of the Wolfsburg champions became clear, even if Jill Roord’s goal to make it 3-0 before half-time was rather flattering. The many Potsdam fans who had traveled with them didn’t feel like celebrating for at least a few minutes and the Laola wave died twice on their block.
The women’s football festival was coming up, said Wolfsburg coach Tommy Stroot, referring to the number of spectators. Five-digit spectator numbers are still a big exception in women’s football in this country.
After the break, the picture was similar to that at the beginning of the first round. Turbine came out of the dressing room with a lot of energy and created good chances straight away. First Kössler failed after a free-kick variant against Schult, then the outgoing goalkeeper also saved Holmgaard’s header in her last game for VfL Wolfsburg.
Chahed tried to turn the game around with the substitutions of Pauline Deutsch, Viktoria Schwalm and Isabell Kerschowski – the only Potsdam player to have won the DFB-Pokal before. But that was not granted to his team on Saturday.
Instead, it was again the women from Wolfsburg who were able to convert their chances into countable ones. Dominique Janssen scored a direct free kick in the 69th minute to make it 4:0. The winner of the game was already certain at this point. Referee Karoline Wacker punctually after just two minutes of stoppage time. While many turbines fell to the ground, the women from Wolfsburg celebrated their success on the pitch.
After winning the championship a few weeks ago, the women from Wolfsburg consolidated their position as currently the best team in Germany by winning the cup. They might not have been at their best in Cologne, but the difference in individual class was clear at all times. Due to the result, some series remained: Wolfsburg won their eighth final in a row, Turbine has been waiting for success for four finals. Turbine coach Chahed remains without a win against VfL.
