Europa Final: Fulham v Atletico Madrid

Cant complain. Fulham were amazing this year. Atletico was better tonight. Unlike other european and international matches I've seen this one was well done. Fulham should be proud. Woy should be proud. MAF should be proud. American Mike should be proud. All of you should be proud. Congrats to Atletico.

Come On You Whites Forever

 

Some days it is hard being a Fulham fan. Tonight it was easy. I've never had so many people wish me well. Maybe it would not have been Fulhamish if we had gone on and won, but for one night only I lived the dream, a dream that I've waited 36 years for, and when I look at all the other supporters of teams around the English leagues I am actually very lucky to have lived this moment. Brentford, Hereford, Exeter - they have their own version of me who have never experienced the amazing feeling of being in a final, and so to lose, after battling for 117 minutes and to come back from 1-0 down is amazing and I am a better person for having enjoyed this moment. Horay for Fulham and cogratulations to Roy and the boys for giving me the best season of my life. It's just sad that my 11 year old son is so upset. But he will learn to love Fulham too.

 

Mo- I came in here to say how gutted I was, but read your response and felt a little better.
You are 100% right!! COYW!!!
Top 4 next season and into the CL... :wink:

 

I dont think Madrid were the better side, I think we are all proud of Fulham and what Roy as achieved this year.

COYW's

Black and White FOREVER!!!

 

Sadness. Pain. Solitude. Resignation.
On a bright note, is it confirmed that we can enter the next Europa league courtesy of the fair play?

 

This hurts. More than any other match I've watched period. But I clapped when the whistle blew, I clapped when they got their medals and when I left the pub, I left clapping.

Great season Fulham. Thank you all for the wonderful memories.

 

Feeling heartbroken and gutted at the moment...but I know in time that will turn to immense pride in what we accomplished this season. Thanks to the So-Cal crew for meeting up. How amazing to see the Fox and Hounds packed and all cheering for our Whites!

Hats off to our Mighty Whites. Here's to many glorious moments to come.

 

Hell of a run.

 

Still haven't seen the match (was planning to watch it tonight), but I inadvertently happened upon the result and it felt like a swift kick to my boys - especially after seeing "Forlan 116'".

I agree, it was a hell of a run - unexpected, tense, joyous, proud, resilient - but for Fulham to get this close and fail, there's gotta be a word for it...

 

I feel like Moses on Mount Nebo.

Could see it, but could not have it.

 

Wow, I can't believe it's over. I just knew, we had one more fantastic finish in us. Forlan was in the right spot at the right time twice tonight and that was the difference. I'm raising a pint (or two) for a great season and one hell of a ride for the Mighty Whites.

 

Well, hats off to Atletico Madrid. For much of the match there was little between the two sides but they have a gifted striker and ours played valiantly on half a leg for 54 minutes. We lacked a cutting edge in what I believed pre-match would be a test of our guile and nous. At half time, I fancied our chance. I thought Dempsey would come on for Zamora and give us more options for balls down the centre of midfield as our inverted wings outflanked Atletico, as they had against Wolfsburg and SV Hamburg before them. Sadly, it was not Clint Dempsey's night and after 63 1/3 matches, our collective fatigue showed.
There was a sense of the unreal in the build up to the match. Of course, mentally, I knew Fulham were in a European final -- I was there when we went through--but watching the contrived UEFA pre-match, mass gymnastics and then seeing Fulham, our very Fulham take the pitch I was astonished all over again, as though I were watching a film.

I had told myself in the build-up how the result mattered less because I never expected us to progress so far. I sat next to Stan Collymore on the plane yesterday and told him I was still surprised we had gotten past Shaktar Donesk. But now, the moment was at hand, Fulham were on the pitch and I wanted something, more than all else and something I could not control and my nervousness at that moment was breathtaking.

As with Fulham 2 Birmingham City 0 in 2008, my seat went unused: I stood and sang the whole match.

When the end came, I felt deepest pride. I exited the stadium seeing familiar Fulham faces and names I do not know of those I see as I make my way down Riverside and around the Hammersmith end to Stevenage Road. I went into the damp German midnight very much at peace that we had not let down England with our performance on the pitch or in the terraces.

I boarded a coach towards the Central Bahnhoff and mixed among the mostly German supporters were a few other Fulham scarfs around English voices. After a minute or two or muttering about the match—the queer off-sides calls, how comparatively pedestrian The Champions had been, how we could have used Diomansy in a match like this one, and such like-- our last song of the night invariably came:

We won it one time,
We won it one time!
The Intertoto
We won it one time!

 

I doubt I could express my emotions with words, so I think it might be better to say nothing. It was a hell of a season. So proud to be a Fulham fan. COYW!!!!

 

Perhaps beggars shouldn't be choosers but I do wish we could have went for it bit more seeing as it was a European final and all. We were really sluggish going forward throughout the game. Put it this way, its a good thing we scored when we did because we didn't have any other chances. Maybe it was nerves, maybe fatigue. In any case it was still a good run.

 

Thanks for a description of the scene in Hamburg, Stanley. And I think GaryBarnettFanClub summed the emotions up well. I usually hate when people are "proud" of their team for losing- but this is different.

We all have our moments when our dedication to Fulham was seriously tested. Mine was in August 2006, when I was at a pub in Chicago (Fado, I hadn't discovered the Globe yet) very early on a Sunday morning to watch Fulham take on Man U at Old Trafford and Fulham lost 5-1. It was the opening match and more or less set the tone for the dismal '06-07 season- but seeing all those Man U fans celebrating depressed me. Incidentally, knowing they were almost certainly all glory hunting posers is what transformed my mild dislike of Man U into unrelenting hatred. But part of it was jealousy and almost hopelessly wondering if Fulham would ever get anywhere near that level of success.

As recently as 25 months ago, when we were tipped for relegation and the Great Escape had yet to begin- none of us would've ever dreamed we'd be discussing the heartbreaking result of A MAJOR EUROPEAN FINAL. Hell, after the Great Escape it still would've been bold to predict a Top 10 finish in the league much less even European QUALIFICATION.

I don't think Atletico Madrid were the better team yesterday- they were at times and Fulham were at times- but ultimately before the match few would doubt that Diego Forlan was the best player on the pitch, given his success in Europe and Spain this year. His first finish was nice, his second was lucky- but both were set up by great pieces of skill- the former by Reyes' run and the latter by Aguerro's ridiculous ball control and strong pass. If someone would've said two years ago that Fulham would have an almost impossible run with upsets galore to make a European Final in 2010, but we would be beaten in it in the waning minutes of Extra time on a goal by one of the best goal scorers in Europe, I think all of us still would've taken it. Maybe, we could've taken some chances better- but our defense was mostly brilliant and Atletico had a few missed opportunities as well. All things considered, both sides played well and either could've won and a brilliant goal scorer had a mediocre finish slightly deflect off a great defender.

Losing sucks and the idea that it builds character is overrated (sometimes it does, but not for certain teams or fanbases), but the Whites played with the character and intensity they have this whole tournament and never quit and that's something to be proud of.

~Steve

 

I am still a bit numb to it all today, but as everyone has said, it was amazing, and while be it we might not see this again in our life times, many fans of other clubs didn't even get that.

Thank you Fulham for an incredible 09/10 year.

 

I'm pissed at Tivo and DirecTV. My recording ended at the 104 minute mark, still tied at 1-1. AAAAAGGGGHH!!!!

After carefully avoiding any news about the match, and then sitting down last night and watching 104 minutes of it, my 13-year-old son (who had done a good job of keeping his mouth shut, God love him) had to tell me the final score.

It was gut wrenching to find out about the loss on this way, but I guess it may have been even more gut-wrenching to have seen the final goal.

Either way, life sucks right now.

 

Oh, and adding to my misery was the play-by-play announcer. Don't know who he was, but he was absolutely horrible. Just annoying as hell, bringing up minutia and trivia that added nothing to the drama of the match. I can't imagine why this clown was doing a major European final.