Fulham heartbreak: Forlan hits the winner past an aghast Mark SchwarzerOnly after 115 minutes of the final match of a season that simply refused to end did the dream die for this remarkable Fulham side.
Only when the 19th game of their extraordinary European adventure entered extra time did those seemingly bottomless reserves of energy run out.
Roy Hodgson’s men had given everything to get here and everything to take this Europa League final towards what looked like an inevitable penalty lottery.
Even after Diego Forlan had scored a richly deserved opening goal for the classier Spaniards, Simon Davies produced the equaliser that amounted to another astonishing comeback.
But in Forlan, and in Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid had two players who had strength, skill and determination to settle this the way such encounters should be.
An inch-perfect delivery from Aguero was met with the most audacious of flicks from Forlan, the former Manchester United striker diverting the ball through the legs of Brede Hangeland and beyond the reach of a diving Mark Schwarzer.
Fulham were devastated, their hopes of delivering a first European trophy for their modest west London football club crushed when the fragility of the Atletico defence suggested they might just pull off one final shock of this incredible
campaign.
Contrasting emotions: Fulham's Zoltan Gera was in tears at the full-time whistle (above) while the Atletico players paid their own special tribute to their manager (below)
But they stand proudly in the pantheon of great Fulham players, who on their journey across Europe have reawoken the spirit of Haynes and Robson and captured the hearts not just of their supporters but of a nationwide football community that made them its second team.Here at the Hamburg Arena the stage was set for the kind of box-office finale that would have so suited Fulham and some of their A-list fans. Would the striker named after Clint Eastwood score the decisive penalty in front of Hugh Grant
and Lily Allen and the countless other celebrities scattered among their ordinary, every- day supporters?
But on this occasion there would be no repeat of that memorable night against Juventus, no against-the-odds victory, even after the goal Davies scored in the 37th minute suggested there might be.
Danny Murphy might have said Hodgson is not a manager who sprinkles magic dust on his players before every European game but it certainly looked that way.
Flying Magyar: Fulham's Zoltan Gera gets between keeper David De Gea and Tomas Ujfalusi Again he did something that turned a group of players who were last off the shelf in football’s Harrods Sale into a team capable of lifting a major trophy. Players who completed a remarkable transformation from Barclays Premier League mediocrity to continental aristocracy.
They did not produce a magnificent sporting display and neither did an Atletico side who did little to suggest they should be any higher than ninth in Spain’s La Liga. But there remained something one can only admire about Fulham.
A defiant streak; a flat refusal to be bullied in this kind of company. For 37 minutes of a distinctly one-sided opening half, Fulham were actually awful; intimidated, seemingly, by the sheer magnitude of the occasion and a goal down to a Forlan finish that underlined the dominance of the Spaniards.
But it is when faced with such a challenge that Hodgson’s heroes side spring into life. Only when it looks like all is lost do they perform free of fear and inhibition.
Mixed emotions: Fulham's Simon Davies (centre) darts to teammate Paul Konchesky after equalising as Atletico's Jose Antonio Reyes (right) recoilsA journey that began in July last year had already been an amazing one. The fightback against Juventus and the defeat of Roma. Not to mention the victories against the current holders of the UEFA Cup, Shaktar Donetsk, the then German champions of Wolfsburg and their domestic rivals here in Hamburg.
But they had yet more magic up their sleeves in the form of the Davies equaliser that gave them a fighting chance of landing the greatest prize in the club’s history.
They have become Fulham’s 11-man cottage industry this season. They might not possess the flair and skill of Best and Marsh or the sheer class of Bobby Moore and George Cohen but they work so hard for each other under the meticulous
guidance of their 62-year-old manager. They are a team in the purest sense.
Nobody epitomised that spirit more than Bobby Zamora. He may need an operation on his injured achilles that has forced him to miss the World Cup but he gave his all for 55 minutes here, producing the run that led to the Davies goal. And he was there again, at half-time of extra time, screaming at his team-mates to keep fighting in pursuit of glory.
Off the mark: Diego Forlan (left) wheels away after beating Mark Schwarzer (floored) as Brede Hangeland (centre) and the Fulham rearguard look for an offside decision that never cameNo wonder the Fulham fans unfurled a banner that read: ‘Roy Hodgson for Prime Minister.’
Before kick-off Hodgson said he could sense the nerves in his dressing room. Passes were hit with too much power and not enough precision, inviting their more fluent opponents to apply some early pressure.
Typically, Murphy was central to much of what Fulham were trying to do. But when he carelessly conceded possession to Sergio Aguero with yet another sloppy pass, Forlan went desperately close to scoring an 11th-minute goal. Luckly for Fulham’s skipper, Forlan met Aguero’s inch-perfect pass with a left-foot shot that flew across Mark Schwarzer and struck the far post.
The circumstances that led to Forlan’s opening 32nd-minute goal were all too inevitable. A mistake from Paul Konchesky that allowed Jose Antonio Reyes to steal possession and then a total failure to close down Atletico’s key attackers.
Fulham's fairytale ends: Atletico lift the Europa League trophy
Simao knocked the ball into the path of Aguero, who turned before unleashing a shot that Forlan intercepted with a first- time effort that wrong-footed Schwarzer and flew into the Fulham net.It was an advantage Atletico had earned but, this being Fulham, not one they held for long, a degree of fragility in their own defence allowing Hodgson’s side to hit back.
It was an explosion of pace and power from Zamora that suddenly had the Spaniards in trouble, their failure to clear the danger inviting Zoltan Gera to chip a cross into the path of Davies via the head of Paulo Assuncao. Davies struck with a wonderful close-range volley, adding to the stunning goal he struck against Hamburg. Astonishing.
After 10 minutes of the second half Zamora could give no more, his achilles just too sore to continue. But Fulham battled on, surviving one scare when Aguero shot into the side-netting after 105 minutes but not when Forlan then struck his second goal of the night.
source: dailymail
