Cup finals

Although my favourite team already had been kicked out in round one, I was keen to watch yesterday's cup finals between Stuttgart and Nurnberg. The two most impressing teams of the recent league season faced each other for the third time.

Stuttgart has impressed me by becoming German champions against all odds and by playing intelligent and beautiful football throughout the year. I'm happy for their win, because I count this as an advantage of German football in comparison to the big European Leagues where you only have two or three teams to win at all.

Nurnberg was mainly of interest for me because they bought Dynamo's top striker Joshua Kennedy last summer. Unfortunately, after playing some minutes for Australias national team in the World Cup, Kennedy got injured in the training camp and never played for his team this season. However, Nurnberg suprised everyone by reaching a place qualifying them for next year's UEFA cup. One of the impressing facts about them was their ability to beat German champions Stuttgart in both of their matches.

So yesterday both teams faced each other for the third time. Like many others I watched the game on TV and agree with people who found it one of the most entertaining football matches of the last years. Both teams did a great job and even though Nurnberg won it by 3-2 in the extra time, Stuttgart also would have deserved it. After Cacau was sent off in minute 30, they played 90 minutes with only 10 players. Even reaching extra time was a great accomplishment for them.