Fulham still made history
It was a final worthy of its stature, hype and projection; a match where both teams produced one of the most memorable finals to date. Despite not having the cash-rich clubs from Europe, the Europa League final between Fulham and Atletico Madrid almost brought the house down. They were teams that had worked endlessly in the practice drills, their passion guiding and gliding them to the finals along with the finesse of true champions.
Roy Hodgson and his men have indeed accomplished a splendid job that got them so close to their first title. Even after Fulham’s defeat by a charged Atletico Madrid side, the team can go back home with their heads held up high; with a certain satisfaction and honour to face their English counterparts in the Premier League.
Fulham’s dream journey to the final was an unexpected one. Nobody had thought that a club that had little self-belief went on for bigger purposes and only at the last moment did they lose it. It was no easy task by the way. They had to defeat teams like Juventus, Hamburg, Shakhtar Donestsk and Wolfsburg, which in itself is a feat, which they will remember for a long time. On-lookers have been left puzzled if this is the same team that nearly got relegated two seasons back.
The ‘Cottagers’ proved that they have evolved to a new and improved squad, as they took on Atletico. The boys from Madrid were the ones to draw first blood in the final. As the clock ticked to the 31st minute of the match, Simão Sabrosa tried to lob the ball for a long pass to Diego Forlan. However, the move was unsuccessful as the ball went to Sergio Agüero. He made a strike but the ball eventually travelled to Forlan who scored the first goal.
With Atletico in the lead, the Fulham team was quick to reply and barely six minutes later, Fulham scored the equalizer. In the 37th minute, Bobby Zamora went into a dribbling trance and passed the ball right in front of the box. The ball eventually got to Zoltán Gera who crossed and after a deflection went to Simon Davies, who was waiting for an opportunity. He lost no time and drew the equalizer; turning the 12,000 Fulham faithfuls at the Nordbank Arena Stadium erupt into joyous cheers.
Unluckily, this just wasn’t the night for the Cottagers as the draw got closer to the dreaded penalties with extra-time about to elapse. Within seconds, Agüero stopped a long ball on the line before passing it to Forlan who side footed it into the net. Atletico’s forwards (Argentinean) Sergio Agüero and Uruguay’s Diego Forlán played majestically and displayed their team drills during the match. Despite their amazing performance in the match, Fulham lacked firepower in their attack.
However, luck was another commodity running out for the cottagers. Bobby Zamora was playing with an injury and Dickson Etuhu lost the ball too many times in the central field, which hampered their progress towards the Atletico goal.
Still no credit can be taken away from Fulham as they played well. There has been a lack of performance by the English clubs at the Europa League in recent times, in spite of the good performances at the Champions League. This might be a case of performing in too many leagues and underperforming in a final. It might even be due to the different game styles of the leagues that the teams were coming from. Nonetheless, it was a huge accomplishment for Fulham as they tried their best to win the final.
Teams that need to qualify for the Europa Cup next season include Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool. They all have played pretty well in their home leagues and expectations are rising from them to win the Europa Cup next season.
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