Claudio Pizarro smiled as he spoke about his successful evening in the DFB Cup. The Peruvian was tired after his second appearance of the season over the full 90 minutes, but he was nonetheless satisfied. After the 4-3 win away to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen are back in the DFB Cup quarter-finals for the first time in six years.
Pizarro himself put Werder back in the lead on 75 minutes, making it 3-2 to the Bremen side with his 29th DFB Cup goal in his 51st career appearance. The 37-year-old holds the joint appearance record among currently active players, alongside Bayern München captain Philipp Lahm, who also played his 51st DFB Cup game on Tuesday night in a 1-0 home win over Darmstadt. Pizarro spoke to DFB.de about the reasons for the win in Gladbach, the significance of being in the quarter finals and his own performance in Tuesday night's cup tie.
Question: Claudio Pizarro, the 4-3 win in Gladbach was a spectacular game. How did you experience it on the pitch?
Claudio Pizarro: The win was obviously very important for us – for the players, for the manager and for all of Bremen. The fans have waited a long time for it, and it's always something very special to leave the pitch as winners. We'll take some confidence from it. On the other side, the first half of the season is unfortunately almost over. We only have one game left, but we're playing better now and I hope that we'll be able to play well again on Saturday in Frankfurt.
Question: What made the team so strong against Gladbach?
Pizarro: We played differently from our other recent performances. We played man against man and put pressure on from the very start, and they clearly hadn't been expecting that as they were somewhat confused. We had the chances, but at the beginning we couldn't put any of them away. Then we went behind, but it was important that we responded and stuck together. It was very good of us to go on and win the game, and I'm very proud of that.
Question: In recent weeks, Werder have been struck down by setbacks. That wasn't the case this time. Why is that?
Pizarro: We spoke a lot on the pitch, which was important since we've lacked communication in recent games. It's led to errors, but we did better today. Above all, we started to find the net.
Question: How do you assess your own performance?
Pizarro: I'm pleased. I scored, I played well, and we won. Now I'm very tired – I haven't played the full 90 minutes for a long time. At least I'll now have a few days to recover.
Question: Was the win in Gladbach a sort of relief for Werder?
Pizarro: The cup is always just one game. If you lose, you're out. We won away from home, which was very important for us. We're through and we can keep on dreaming.
Question: Who do you want as your next opponent?
Pizarro: Any team will be tricky. There are no bad sides in the quarter-finals, so I don't mind who we get. It'd be particularly tough to face Bayern or Dortmund.
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Claudio Pizarro smiled as he spoke about his successful evening in the DFB Cup. The Peruvian was tired after his second appearance of the season over the full 90 minutes, but he was nonetheless satisfied. After the 4-3 win away to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen are back in the DFB Cup quarter-finals for the first time in six years.
Pizarro himself put Werder back in the lead on 75 minutes, making it 3-2 to the Bremen side with his 29th DFB Cup goal in his 51st career appearance. The 37-year-old holds the joint appearance record among currently active players, alongside Bayern München captain Philipp Lahm, who also played his 51st DFB Cup game on Tuesday night in a 1-0 home win over Darmstadt. Pizarro spoke to DFB.de about the reasons for the win in Gladbach, the significance of being in the quarter finals and his own performance in Tuesday night's cup tie.
Question: Claudio Pizarro, the 4-3 win in Gladbach was a spectacular game. How did you experience it on the pitch?
Claudio Pizarro: The win was obviously very important for us – for the players, for the manager and for all of Bremen. The fans have waited a long time for it, and it's always something very special to leave the pitch as winners. We'll take some confidence from it. On the other side, the first half of the season is unfortunately almost over. We only have one game left, but we're playing better now and I hope that we'll be able to play well again on Saturday in Frankfurt.
Question: What made the team so strong against Gladbach?
Pizarro: We played differently from our other recent performances. We played man against man and put pressure on from the very start, and they clearly hadn't been expecting that as they were somewhat confused. We had the chances, but at the beginning we couldn't put any of them away. Then we went behind, but it was important that we responded and stuck together. It was very good of us to go on and win the game, and I'm very proud of that.
Question: In recent weeks, Werder have been struck down by setbacks. That wasn't the case this time. Why is that?
Pizarro: We spoke a lot on the pitch, which was important since we've lacked communication in recent games. It's led to errors, but we did better today. Above all, we started to find the net.
Question: How do you assess your own performance?
Pizarro: I'm pleased. I scored, I played well, and we won. Now I'm very tired – I haven't played the full 90 minutes for a long time. At least I'll now have a few days to recover.
Question: Was the win in Gladbach a sort of relief for Werder?
Pizarro: The cup is always just one game. If you lose, you're out. We won away from home, which was very important for us. We're through and we can keep on dreaming.
Question: Who do you want as your next opponent?
Pizarro: Any team will be tricky. There are no bad sides in the quarter-finals, so I don't mind who we get. It'd be particularly tough to face Bayern or Dortmund.
