Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp was graceful in defeat, praising his opposite number Dieter Hecking for winning the DFB-Pokal and effectively spoiling his final game in charge of the Westphalians.
Wolfsburg triumphed 3-1 in Berlin to pick up their first trophy since winning the Bundesliga 2009, while it was Hecking’s first ever title win.
“He deserves it,” said Klopp. “We did a lot right, but we had no luck at all with our moves.
“Wolfsburg deserved to win, but it was an unnecessary defeat for us.”
Read more:
– Photo gallery: Cup finals from England, Scotland, Germany, France and Spain
– Ian Hawkey: Shinji Kagawa — from Man United malaise to the verge of German Cup success
It did not look like Dortmund would leave Berlin empty-handed after they took a fifth-minute lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Klopp’s dream of ending his seven-year spell atop a lorry driving through the Dortmund city centre carrying the team and a trophy looked like it would come true, but Wolfsburg had other ideas.
“It was a fantastic performance from my whole team,” said Hecking. “We had to be strong at the back, but we knew how lethal we are up front too.”
Kevin De Bruyne felt that the squad were galvanised after the death of Junior Malanda, with their desire to do something special for their former team-mate driving them on.
Since Malanda was killed in a car accident in January, Wolfsburg were the Bundesliga’s second-best team in the second half of the season and worthy winners of the cup.
“I think Junior Malanda helped us a lot in this second half of the season,” De Bruyne said.
“He was always in my mind and gave me strength for games like these.”
Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio added: “We wanted to win this game for Junior. He is still part of this team and he will always be part of us.
“He played in this competition this season too, so he is also a real cup winner.”
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
