Well, who would have thought of it, Fulham are the most successful British club in European competition this season! Last night, Roy Hodgson’s men continued their incredible fairytale infront of a delighted Craven Cottage crowd and achieved the improbable, by knocking out another giant, in the form of German opposition.
Hamburg SV may have been without a permanent manager, but with the incentive of playing the UEFA Europa League final, infront of their own fans in Hamburg and with stars like Mladen Petric, Joris Mathjisen and Ruud Van Nistlerooy amongst their ranks, surely they would be able to extinguish the burning Fulham flame. It looked so for a large proportion of the semi-final, second leg encounter at Craven Cottage, with Petric’s stunning free-kick given the Germans the critical away goal. However, never write Fulham off at your peril and once again, they showed the incredible chemistry that Hodgson has managed to bond together throughout this historic journey. Simon Davies equalised with a clever finish, then Hungarian Zoltan Gera capitalised on sloppy defending to fire Fulham infront. They held out for the final fifteen minutes, to complete the greatest victory of their history, and send them into the final in Hamburg on May 12th.
They will face Spanish underachievers Atletico Madrid in the final, with Madrid overcoming the Anfield factor, to overcome Liverpool after extra-time. Despite losing on the night 2-1, a critical away goal in the extra period from the ex-Manchester United flop, Diego Forlan, handed the final shattering blow on the Liverpool career of Rafa Benitez. With no trophies in four seasons and a dismal 7th place finish on the cards, there is surely only one option now for the board at Anfield to consider. Their season has been truly forgettable.
However, this night belonged to Fulham and rightly so. Hamburg will be their 19th game in this competition, starting the staggering run way back in July 2009. They scraped past FC Basle in the group stages and came through two bruising games against AS Roma, very much with pride intact. Knocking out the talented holders Shakhtar Donetsk was a very impressive achievement, but to rip apart Juventus was another story. Trailing 3-1 from the first leg in Round four, the Cottagers fell a goal down early on at home, to David Trezeguet. However, they stormed back to win 4-1 on the night, and 5-4 on aggregate, as the Serie A legends were made to look like amateurs. German champions VFL Wolfsburg were no match in the last eight for Hodgson’s men and now with Hamburg out of the way, who would be a fool, not to put any money on them winning the inaugural UEFA Europa League.
Two years ago, it took a Danny Murphy header at Portsmouth on the last day of the season, to keep Fulham in the FA Barclays Premiership by the skin of their teeth. Now, captain Murphy will lead Fulham out for a European final. Let’s hope this fairytale gets its deserved happy ending….
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