Schaaf not Cowed by Bremen Deficit

Thomas Schaaf took comfort in the knowledge that there is still "just one goal" between his Werder Bremen side and Hamburger SV after a 1-0 defeat at the Weserstadion, while visiting coach Martin Jol, proud of his side's UEFA Cup semi-final first-leg success, noted: "Not many teams win here." Piotr Trochowski headed the only goal of the game for Hamburg to leave them firmly in control of the tie ahead of next week's second leg, but Bremen are not giving up hope.

Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach
I do not have a good explanation for why the team did not play well at the beginning. We did not attack our opponents and we did not move forward. A strong Hamburg team took advantage of our problems and took the lead. In the second half we improved but it is tough to turn around matches like that – it takes a lot of energy and we are now at the end of a long season. We got some chances in the second half but we did not have the luck to convert one of them. Still, it is just one goal and there are of course still possibilities for the second match. Hamburg now have the upper hand and we must get a bigger win in Hamburg than they did here. This will be an exciting and interesting challenge and I am sure that it will be another spectacular match.

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Martin Jol, Hamburg coach
We got ourselves into a good position for this tie today. We started very well, had a great chance in the second minute and then took a deserved lead. Smaller players such as Trochowski and [Jonathan] Pitroipa must prove themselves in the penalty area and I am happy that Piotr did this today. Altogether we did our job very well today against a strong team – not many teams win here. But in the second half we should have scored a second, as Ivica Olić and Jonathan Pitroipa had great chances. I am annoyed that José Paolo Guerrero will miss the second game because of his yellow card – this will make our task harder for sure. But we proved that we can overcome a setback like the penalty shoot-out loss against Werder Bremen in the German Cup a week ago. Our position is good and we want to reach the final.

( UEFA )