Cup monopoly set to be broken

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Ever since Stuttgart's win in 1997 the cup has been dominated by Bayern Munich (five titles), Werder Bremen (two titles) and Schalke (two titles). But the big three went out early this time around, offering a great opportunity for smaller clubs to make their mark in the competition.

The cup title brings with it a place in the UEFA Cup, an extra incentive for Wolfsburg, one of the many clubs fighting relegation in the league and one which is not able to make a European event through the league.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Miss Dangerous...!!

Nuremberg crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Tuesday to advance to the German Cup final for the first time since 1982.

Nuremberg will play the winner of Wednesday's semi-final between VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart on May 26 in the final at Berlin's Olympiastadion.

Marco Engelhardt put Nuremberg ahead in the third minute, pouncing on a loose ball in front of Oka Nikolov after the Frankfurt goalkeeper managed to only fist away a difficult shot from Russian international Ivan Saenko.

In front of a frenzied Nuremberg crowd of 47,000, Saenko doubled the lead for the hosts in the 25th minute.

He took a perfect pass through the Frankfurt defence on the right from Andreas Wolf and his crisp shot from the right went between Nikolov's legs.

Tomas Galasek made it 3-0 for Nuremberg, who were beaten 4-2 by Bayern Munich in 1982 when they last reached the Cup final, with a curling free kick around the Frankfurt wall into the top left corner in the 54th minute.

Substitute striker Chhunly Pagenburg's breakaway goal in the 89th minute made it 4-0 for Nuremberg, who have had an excellent second half of the season and have risen to fifth in the Bundesliga.

'We didn't play magic football but we deserved to win, even if 2-0 or 3-1 might have more accurately reflected the match,' said Nuremberg coach Hans Meyer.

Frankfurt coach Friedhelm Funkel agreed.

'Nuremberg were simply better,' he said. 'Last year we beat them in the round of 16. This year they beat us. I hope they take the Cup so we can say we were beaten by the cup winners.'

Frankfurt were beaten 1-0 in last year's final by Bayern Munich.

Nuremberg last won the Cup in 1962.

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A 25th-minute goal from Antonio da Silva was enough for Armin Veh's side to advance and keep their dreams of a league and cup double alive.

Wolfsburg fought for the whole 90 minutes, but could not find a way back into the game and left the field to the applause of their fans, who recognised their efforts in reaching the last four.

The attention for both teams will quickly return to the Bundesliga where Stuttgart host Bayern Munich in a decisive fixture for the top three on Saturday while Wolfsburg still need a few more wins to be certain of their top-flight status.

Da Silva provided the only moment of inspiration in a disappointing first half.

His 25-yard free-kick dipped over the wall and into the side of the goal keeper Simon Jentzsch was not guarding.

Wolfsburg reacted and, early in the second half, they thought they were level when Marcelinho beat Timo Hildebrand only for a dubious offside decision to count against the Brazilian striker.

Minutes later, Cacau had the chance to kill off the Wolves when he was put through by Benjamin Lauth, but he could not beat Jentzsch in a one-on-one situation.

As time ran out, Marcelinho attempted to repeat da Silva's free-kick at the other end, but he lifted the ball over the crossbar.

Miss Dangerous...!!

The final in Berlin on May 26 pits two teams who have won the
trophy three times each.

Wolfsburg, who have never won any domestic silverware but were
losing cup finalists to Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1995, were
chasing the game after da Silva's splendid strike.

The cup title brings with it a place in the UEFA Cup. But both
teams could by then already have places in European competition next
season.

Stuttgart have hopes of Champions League qualification while
Nuremberg are currently fifth in the league which would also be
enough for a UEFA Cup place.