By Olaf Goldbecker – In the first semifinal of the German Cup, Frankfurt dominated from the start. The equalizer, after a quickly played free kick, was out of the blue, but it made Frankfurt totally get out of the game. From then on, it was a game with a huge turnover rate on both sides. Frankfurt had more ball possession, and Duisburg had seldom but bigger and better chances. The final resulted in a win for Frankfurt on penalties: 2-2 (5-4 pk).
The lead by Alexandra Popp was a spectacular 20-meter shot directly into the top right corner. Frankfurt tied after a corner kick when Kerstin Garefrekes missed the cross, but Gina Lewandowski stood unmarked behind her and headed in. In the overtime, Duisburg had more and more chances, but Frankfurt keeper Desiree Schumann kept her team in the game.
In the penalty shootout, Duisburg’s young keeper Anke Preuss saved the second shot of Ana Maria Crnogorcevic. Everybody else scored, and Annike Krahn just had to get in the last shot to clinch Duisburg’s win, but Schumann saved it. The sixth attempt was scored for Frankfurt and Linda Bresonik, who already failed two penalty kicks in the league, could not convert to give Frankfurt the win. Ironically, the two experienced cornerstones of Duisburg’s young team were the ones who didn’t have the nerves.
In the other semifinal, Bayern München will take on Hamburger SV Monday.