Eidevall's pride in Arsenal's Women's Champions League semi-final victory
Posted : 02 May 2023
It was a shattering blow for Arsenal to concede a goal in the last seconds of extra time in their Women's Champions League semi-final, but manager Jonas Eidevall also felt tremendous satisfaction.
This season, Arsenal has demonstrated a tremendous amount of resiliency, beating the odds to make it to the last four after critical player injuries early in the season seemed to end their chances of competing in Europe.
After starting the new year without key attackers Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema due to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, they just lost captain Kim Little, defender Leah Williamson, and forward Caitlin Foord.
So, with worn-out legs and a short bench when they took the field at Emirates Stadium on Monday night, Arsenal knew it would be difficult to defeat two-time champions Wolfsburg and advance to the championship game.
However, confidence persisted after coming from behind to defeat Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals and then again to draw 2-2 with Wolfsburg in their first-leg semi-final.
Following a thrilling 120 minutes in which both teams scored twice during regulation, Wolfsburg's substitute Pauline Bremer broke Arsenal's hearts by scoring the game's winning goal in the final seconds of overtime, advancing them 5-4 overall.
"It's tough, no doubt about it," said Eidevall. "It was a game of such fine margins that were not on our side.
"We are allowed to be hurt and feel empty, but we're also allowed to feel proud of the performance and the occasion with our supporters. There is a lot of emotions in the brain."
"I'm quite speechless. I'm just so proud of the girls. We gave absolutely everything out there. We ran for each other, we walked for each other, we came back into the game. " Winger Katie McCabe added
"We've instilled that belief that we can challenge and go on in these sorts of tournaments."
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