Danelle Tan caps fine debut season in Germany with Cup win

SINGAPORE – Eleven days after Danelle Tan became the first Singaporean footballer to win a league title in Europe, the Borussia Dortmund attacker added another feather to her cap.

She helped her team lift the Kreispokal, a regional cup, with a 1-0 win over SpVg Berghofen in the final on May 1.

With the winners’ medals coming in thick and fast, it is no wonder the 19-year-old told The Straits Times: “It feels incredible… the last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing.

“I feel like I’ve barely been able to catch my breath before we are doing something great again. It feels neverending, in a very good way.”

While Tan had a first-half goal disallowed for offside, Merle Greulich’s scrappy 49th-minute goal was enough to give BVB Frauen victory over an opponent they are likely to replace in the fourth-tier Westfalenliga next season. This was also their third consecutive Kreispokal title.

“It was really hot by Dortmund standards (temperature had hit a high of 27 deg C) and we had just played a game on Sunday so it was a tough and nervy game and we are glad to grind out the win as a team,” said Tan, who played 82 minutes with her dad in attendance.

After the win at the Sportplatz Schiffhorst in Dortmund, the team made the short trip to the Signal Iduna Park to watch the men’s team beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

On April 21, BVB Frauen had won the fifth-division Landesliga with five games to spare, and also went back to the Signal Iduna Park to celebrate in front of 80,000 fans.

While the girls in yellow and black still have four more league games in May, it is also time for Tan to consider her options as her one-year deal with Dortmund runs out in June. She had scored 14 goals in 16 league games and one in three Kreispokal matches.

Following her solid debut season in Germany, BVB Frauen coach Thomas Sulewski confirmed his club are keen to retain her services as they aim for their fourth consecutive promotion.

He told ST: “We would be happy to have her on our team for the next season.

“Danelle is a very young player with a lot of potential. She quickly settled in with us and is very ambitious. She can play all positions in attack, but feels most comfortable in the centre and has played very well there recently.

“She has a very good finish and we want to develop her holistically and not in one specific area.

“As a group, we quickly grew together into a real team. Each player played their role and did their best in that role. We want to carry the momentum into the next season and be just as successful as we have been this year.”