Duisburg Snatch Cup Final Victory
Bayern Munich 1
Hargreaves 96'
MSV Duisburg 1
JH Ahn 102'
(Duisburg win 4-3 on penalties)
MSV Duisburg defeated Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties in the 2005/2006 DFB Pokal final, after the game finished 1-1 after extra-time at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion
Bayern had seen their dreams of a treble disappear earlier in the week, when they were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by
Chelsea in the semi-finals. The Bavarian giants look odds on to win another Bundesliga title and so the DFB Pokal would have meant a welcome double for the Munich outfit. Duisburg came into the final in poor form, having lost at home to
VfL Wolfsburg and scraping a 0-0 draw with
Hamburg in their previous two league games.
Despite a lack of goals within the 90 minutes, the tie was certainly played like a Cup final. Referee Mark Moller issued 4 yellow cards to Duisburg players, while Bayern saw both Willy
Sagnol and Roy
Makaay substituted due to injuries. The Bavarian side had the lions share of possession, but the Zebras proved a threat on the counter. After 90 minutes however both teams had done sufficiently well enough to thwart any incursion on their respective goals.
It wasn't until the first half of extra-time that the deadlock was broken. On 96 minutes, Bayern midfielder Owen
Hargreaves rose to meet a cross from a corner, to head home what surely looked like the silver goal. The television replays showed that the ball had rebounded off the crossbar and back into the goal off the back off Duisburg keeper Georg
Koch.
Professor Nutmeg reacted immediately, bringing off the tired Dirk
Lottner in central midfield and opting to field the pacey winger Kai
Michalke behind the two frontmen. Bayern looked happy to sit back in the remaining few minutes with eleven men behind the ball. On 102 minutes, january signing Blagoj
Georgiev was gifted time and space and the Bulgarian moved forward in to the Bayern half. The midfielder then picked out substitute Jung-Hwan
Ahn, a yard inside the box. The Korean did well to ride the challenge from Phillip
Lahm and stayed on his feet to slot the ball past veteran keeper Oliver
Kahn from 17 yards. Bayern's heads dropped as Duisburg's fans erupted in the stands. In a moment of sheer delight, the evercalm tactician Professor Nutmeg darted out of the dugout punching the air as if he'd netted the equaliser himself, the fourth official having to restrain the manager as he buoyed his players on.
Duisburg had forced another 15 minutes from the tie, but both sides were now reluctant to lose possession. And so, just as the the semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg went to penalties, so too did the final. Bayern won the toss and opted to go first. Duisburg went ahead however when Bayern's Peruvian striker
Guerrero despatched his penalty over the crossbar. Kahn then showed his experience and quality, when he saved Markus
Kurth's spot kick to even things up and raise the tension levels even more. Both teams continued to convert their kicks until Bastian
Schweinsteiger's effort hit the post. The youngster appeared to hesitate and payed the price for his indecision. This left Duisburg's Alexander
Bugera with the opportunity to seal the victory with his penalty. The ex-Bayern midfielder made no mistake as he smashed the ball past Kahn, sparking huge celebrations from the team and the Duisburg crowd alike.
The DFB Pokal is Professor Nutmeg's first piece of silverware with the club since his arrival at the beginning of the season. Furthermore Duisburg have cemented a place in Europe next season, no matter where they finish in the table. Critics are now drawing parallels with the success he experienced at
Hertha Berlin back in PES3. If they are to be believed, Duisburg may well have good times ahead.
(So we play with that while other leagues/teams get realistic)
