Strong Bulls meet their match in penalty shoot-out. Bayern Munich collect the 2007 Bulls Cup!
The winners of the first Bulls Cup are Bayern Munich!
The record German champions claimed victory in today's final against Red Bull Salzburg in front of 15,000 fans in the Bulls Arena. The match finished 0-0 but the Germans were 3-2 winners after a penalty shoot-out.
The Bulls gave a solid performance against Bayern, just as they had in their 3-1 win in the first game against Urawa Red Diamonds.
Red Bull Salzburg started the final against Bayern Munich with the following line-up: Ochs; Steinhoefer, Vargas, Meyer, Dudic; Carboni, Aufhauser; Pitak, Jezek; Janocko; Zickler.
The first few minutes clearly showed that both teams wanted to win, with a definite rivalry on show. The match is very quick and filled with tackles- very exciting for the fans.
The first genuinely big chance in the game didn't come until the 19th minute however. Pizarro sprung up in front of Ochs on the inside-left. The Salzburg keeper managed to narrow down the angle and go to ground at the right time, thereby stopping a Bayern goal.
20 minutes: Premature goal celebrations for Salzburg. Zickler wins a challenge against Schweinsteiger and passes to Pitak, who strikes home. Referee Schwab had already blown for a Zickler foul however!
27 minutes: Salzburg are enjoying the best of the tackles at the moment by 52 to 48 per cent! Good chances almost every minute now for the Bulls:
29 minutes: Zickler breaks through the Bayern defence again, but Rensing is able to save his shot.
One minute later: Jezek's free-kick fails to trouble Rensing.
31 minutes: A fantastic pass from Jezek finds Pitak who is alone in front of Rensing. He plays to Zickler, who is dispossessed. Pitak really should have taken it on himself.
32 minutes: Zickler heads just wide!
A strong showing by the Bulls. The defence is standing strong and giving very little away to big names such as Podolski, Pizarro or Santa Cruz. A lot of courage and aggression is being shown in front of goal.
37 minutes and Red Bull Salzburg make a change: Janocko goes and is replaced by Lokvenc, who becomes the Bulls' second striker.
45 minutes: 0-0, the game is over. A penalty shoot-out will have to decide who wins the tournament.:
The shoot-out:
Podolski begins and gives Bayern a 1-0 lead - no chance for Ochs.
Now it's Alex Zickler's turn. He has to score and does to make it 1-1.
Schweinsteiger hits it but Ochs dives the right way and saves.
Jezek can give the Bulls a big advantage but shoots straight at Rensing.
Santa Cruz slips but scores anyway to make it 2-1
Vargas evens it up at 2-2
Pizarro is spot-on to make it 3-2
Pitak against Rensing. The Bayern goalkeeper saves and wins the tournament for Munich!
Giovanni Trapattoni: "The fans have seen some great games. It was important for us to see that we could give a good account for ourselves against leading teams. A penalty shoot-out is always a form of roulette."
Lothar Matthaeus: "We've sold ourselves very well today. In both games you could see a lot of good skill and great player morale. The tournament definitely has a future."
Ottmar Hitzfeld: "We're really happy that we are in Salzburg. I've met a lot of old friends and the artificial pitch was a new experience for my team. Salzburg played well and actually deserved to win against us."
Alex Zickler: "I'm not really fit yet. It wasn't totally clear yesterday whether I could play at all. As it was against Bayern however, I simply had to be there."
Uli Hoeness: "It was a very nice evening, a really good event."
Lukas Podolski: "A lovely tournament with three good teams, and I was in Salzburg for the first time today."
