For VfL Wolfsburg’s Verena Faißt, the semi-final of the DFB Cup against SC Freiburg (today 16:30 CEST) isn’t just a trip to her hometown but a clash against her former club.
"It’s obviously a clash with a special meaning for me," said the 25-year-old. "We want to make it through to the final in Cologne as it’s one of the biggest stages for female footballers to showcase their talents." In an interview with DFB.de, Faißt warned that people shouldn’t underestimate SC Freiburg, despite their recent poor results, because it would cause real problems.
DFB.de: As an ex-Freiburg player, does the match have a significant meaning for you?
Verena Faißt: Of course, I grew up just 40 kilometres away from Freiburg. I’m so pleased that we’re going to be playing in the semi-final of the DFB Cup there. It certainly would have been better if we’d been drawn at home, but it’s great that I get to play in my hometown once again.
DFB.de: Have you received lots of ticket requests over the past few days?
Faißt: Yes, lots of my friends and family are going to be in the stadium. I hope that I’ll play.
DFB.de: How important is the game to you?
Faißt: We want to make it through to the final in Cologne once again after missing out last year. The event is always a great experience for everyone. I have fond memories of when we won the title there in 2013. That was a real highlight. It’s unbelievably important to me as the final is one of the biggest stages for female footballers.
For VfL Wolfsburg’s Verena Faißt, the semi-final of the DFB Cup against SC Freiburg (today 16:30 CEST) isn’t just a trip to her hometown but a clash against her former club.
"It’s obviously a clash with a special meaning for me," said the 25-year-old. "We want to make it through to the final in Cologne as it’s one of the biggest stages for female footballers to showcase their talents." In an interview with DFB.de, Faißt warned that people shouldn’t underestimate SC Freiburg, despite their recent poor results, because it would cause real problems.
DFB.de: As an ex-Freiburg player, does the match have a significant meaning for you?
Verena Faißt: Of course, I grew up just 40 kilometres away from Freiburg. I’m so pleased that we’re going to be playing in the semi-final of the DFB Cup there. It certainly would have been better if we’d been drawn at home, but it’s great that I get to play in my hometown once again.
DFB.de: Have you received lots of ticket requests over the past few days?
Faißt: Yes, lots of my friends and family are going to be in the stadium. I hope that I’ll play.
DFB.de: How important is the game to you?
Faißt: We want to make it through to the final in Cologne once again after missing out last year. The event is always a great experience for everyone. I have fond memories of when we won the title there in 2013. That was a real highlight. It’s unbelievably important to me as the final is one of the biggest stages for female footballers.
DFB.de: Let’s turn our attention to the match itself now. How are you expecting the game to be?
Faißt: Although Freiburg haven’t recently put in many convincing performances and have failed to secure positive results, it will still be a very tricky match. There’s a lot of pressure on us at the moment. We’ve just played two very intense legs against Rosengard in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but we’ll once again mobilise all our forces and put everything into the final run-in. Now the crucial phase of the season is beginning. We don’t want and can’t afford to make any slip-ups.
DFB.de: Can you remember what it’s like to be in SC Freiburg’s shoes and be the underdog? You played there for four years.
Faißt: It’s the game of the year for Freiburg. They’re not going to achieve anything in the Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga; however, a victory against us and a place in the final would improve their season. It would certainly be a dream come true for Freiburg and they’ll be motivated accordingly going into the encounter. We have, therefore, been warned. If we underestimate the challenge ahead of us, we’ll have real problems. We can’t allow that to happen.
DFB.de: Do you still have contacts in Freiburg?
Faißt: No, I don’t actually have any contacts there anymore. Lots has happened there over the past few years. It’s tradition for the best players to leave and new talents to come in. That’s also been the case this season. Sara Däbritz moved to FC Bayern München and Jenista Clark went to 1. FFC Frankfurt. Unfortunately that’s the way things go at SC Freiburg. The years I spent training there were extremely important in my development.
