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WOMEN’S CUP: Berglund delight at Lyon scalp

/noticias.info/ The Umeå IK defender Emma Berglund was relieved to help the Swedish champions into the final of the UEFA Women's Cup having only found out she would be playing in the hours preceding Sunday's semi-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais.

Impressive display
The 19-year-old came on as an 81st-minute substitute in the 1-1 first-leg draw at Stade de Gerland the previous week and was expecting again to be among Andrée Jelgertz's replacements on home soil. When a hip injury forced Swedish international Karolina Westberg out, though, she stepped in and performed impressively in the biggest game of her fledgling career as the two-time winners reached their fifth UEFA Women's Cup final.

Lyon praised
"Karolina had a problem and I only found out that I was going to play at lunchtime," said Berglund, who made her debut in the competition against Romania's CFF Clujana in October. "Lyon are without a shadow of a doubt the best team I've ever played against. They were very skilful and we needed to stay focused, which we managed to do very well."

Fitness tells
Berglund felt Umeå's superior conditioning was the telling factor between the two sides, although Lyon could perhaps point to the woodwork having struck the crossbar on 16 minutes and post in added time. "I think one of the key factors was that our overall fitness was a bit better than theirs. Obviously it was a psychological boost to see their players suffering from cramp towards the end of the game," she added.

'Bright future'
Jeglertz, looking for his first European crown as Umeå coach, added: "We knew it was going to be difficult as Lyon have proved to be a very good side with a bright future. The plan was to put pressure on their defence but at first that didn't succeed so we had to do a lot of running. We gradually worked our way into the game and I'm very proud of the players."

Two-legged final
Looking ahead to the final against old foes 1. FFC Frankfurt, Jeglertz said: "We're certainly out to win the tournament even though Frankfurt are a good team. I believe we're in with a very good chance of success." The first leg will be played in northern Sweden on 17 May, with the two-legged final concluding in Germany the following Saturday. notas_de_prensa_archivo