May 18, 2008

All even in first leg of UEFA Cup Final
Saturday May 17, 2008

Umea IK 1 FFC Frankfurt 1

Scoring
Umea IK Marta, 1st. minute
Frankfort Conny Pohlers, 5th. minute
Referee: G. Gaal (Hungary)

Commentary by Colin Aldis

The first leg of the UEFA Cup was played on synthetic turf at the Gammliavallen Stadium in UMEA., It was shown live on Eurosport TV.
The two teams,have more experience in this championship than any others since it started in 2001.. with five final appearances for Umea and four for Frankfurt. A year ago, Arsenal won 1-0 here and lifted the trophy a week later.

This time, Umea were ahead after approx 10 seconds, when a long high ball forward by Anna Paulson was met by Marta, and she was able to get by the desparing dive by Silke Rottenberg, and with her wrong foot slide an angled shot into the empty net. But Frankfurt are a team of champions, and they pulled level in the fifth minute, when Petra Wimbersky made a strong run from the left, and slipped the ball inside for poacher Conny Pohlers to steer ihome from just 6 metres..

The rest of the game was what might have been, with Umea creating many chances, especially in the first half.. Madelaine Edlund was denied by the German keeper,twice with rather tame shotsshots. Silke Rottenberg also dived to catch a long shot by Frida Ostberg.. Mami Yamaguchi hit a great shot but just over the bar.. Frankfurt also had chances with Birgit Prinz forcing Ulla-Karin Ronnlund to make a brave stop..

The hectic pace saw some tiredness in the latter stages leading to more physical play which resulted with the referee booking four players, three of them in the in the last 5 minutes...

Frankfurt will have the second leg home advantage next Saturday, to be played in a stadium renovated for the 2006 World C up,, but with Marta on the field for the Swedish club, anything is possible.