Fulham @ Basel

Wow, gutty performance you Whites. Whew, we're thru!

 

It was great to get a win today despite some creative refereeing in my mind. Zamora continues to amaze me compared to last year. I’ve also been a huge Gera critic, but when the pressure is on that guy steps up. I’m glad I cut out early of work to catch this one.

 

Fantastic win.

Snow, gut wrenching near-misses, a good crowd, great traveling support...this has to be a holiday miracle.

I love Fulham.

 

That win right there shows real character from the men in white. Nothing less than a win would do, and that's what they provided. "Way to bring it home!" The BLAWHARMY!!!!!

 

I'm glad I took the day off for that now. And I've never been happier to be more wrong on a prediction. Great win.

Zamora and Riise were fantastic offensively. I say offensively b/c it's pretty clear why Riise can't find the pitch in the EPL. His defending is shocking. Greening on the right was an adventure. Good subs by Roy, bringing in Dempsey and Duff. We were able to keep the ball and defend better once those changes were made. For most of the match, I thought Smalling made a good accounting of himself. The handball looked to be phantom on tv. I didn't have audio, so I don't know what the announcers were saying about it. He did screw the coverage on the corner that let in the 2nd goal though, but otherwise, I thought he played well given his age/experience.

The team seemed to be displaying Roy's Europa disdain in the match. We were very physical with Basel and basically kicked the shit out of them. It had a "nothing to lose" feel to it. We got away with it for the most part, so hey, when in Rome....(or Switzerland, as it were).

Looking forward to the draw to see who we get next.

 

:banana: Can't wait to watch the highlights. Come on Martin in Nashville, even you have to give Bobby Z some love today.

 

It looked to be phantom in the sense that it was, in my view, pretty clearly ball to hand rather than hand to ball (Smalling actually appeared to have been actively moving his hand back and away from the ball, if anything). The color commentator, Robbie Mustoe, said the same thing, though one who was inclined to be skeptical of his opinion could point out that Fulham's lineup featured two players who were formerly his teammates (Schwarzer and Greening at Middlesbrough) and that he might not have been entirely unbiased as a result.

 

So happy for FFC, Roy and Zamora. So far only got to read about it, but will see highlights!

 

What a great game! So happy for Roy & the boys. Looking forward to the draw on Friday. Look at how far we have come!!! COYW

 

Riise has been great in this competition and deserves playing time in the league. His crosses are superb leaving no chance for our forwards to mess things up.

Zamora is playing his best football of his career. I really hope he can keep this up as its fun to watch.


Fulham are awesome. We are a team that is rising and this is a great time to support Fulham. We've all watched the relegation battles and its nice to see us get a chance to watch them play this well. Great stuff from Fulham.

 

Wooohoooo!

Some highlights off UEFA's site:

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacu ... oplay=true

Some other highlights:

http://videos.sapo.pt/LBqlQLH2Z1wU55tzz5CO

 

I recorded it and managed to not cheat and look at the score while I was at work. But, apparently I used all the restraint and patience I had because I had to watch the final five minutes at 2X because I didn't have any finger nails left. Great performance I thought. The only negative thing I have is that I found myself shaking my head a couple of times at Murphy's passes straight to their guys. But what a game by some of the younger guys. COYW

 

What a game! I am thrilled that we'll be going on to the last 32. Road trip to europe anyone? COYW!!!

 

dtwondough - How hard was it not to cheat? I did the same thing including the 2X speed.

CanadianSwede - I'm always up for a road trip!

 

I was busy at work today so it was easy not to cheat. I even managed not to watch the final 15 in 2x.


I see fields of green, Roy Hodgson too
I see Eur-oupe for me and you
And I think to myself what a beautiful game.

I see the Thames so blue and kits of white
Bright blessed days and dark floodlight nights
And I think to myself what a beautiful game.

Fulham colors worn proudly and Europa dreams running high
Pride on the faces of Fulham fans going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying Fulham we love you.

I hear many fans shouting, I've watched some of them grow
More celebration than I thought I'd ever know
And I think to myself what a beautiful game
Yes I think to myself what a beautiful game.

Well done today you lovely White's!

 

At the airport in basel. Absolutely drained. Tell me why I wanted the 7 o clock flight!

That has to be the one of the top 2 sporting events I have ever attended! Up there with Man united last year.

I will give a full report later, but I can say, at a min, we sang almost the whole time and went freaking mental 3 times during the game and went quiet only briefly twice.

Met a lot of really good, old school fulham fans on this trip. Worth every franc! I took a bunch of pics and a couple of vids. I will post today or tomorrow. Hopefully they turned out decent.

Looking forward to the next round and thinking how I can convince my wife to let me do this again!


Few other bleary eyed fans here. A few look like they rolled straight up from the pub!

Coyws!

 

Missed all but the last 10 minutes of the game due to a job interview -- it went well, I think -- and just saw that Zamora lookes like a ruthless killer on the two goals -- what great finishing. Much love from NE Ohio today for Bobby Z.

The handball on Smalling was a bad call. End of. Glad to see he performed well.

Bring on Juventus! (Or Standard Liege, etc.)

 

I stayed up last night to watch the game on GolTV. I have to give credit to o_sullyvan and the rest of the Fulham Supporters - they were in good voice. I don't know all of the songs, but could clearly hear the "Come On Fulham!", "The Whites are Coming", and "Bobby for England" songs/chants. You all were a credit to Fulham supporters worldwide.

 

Great game. Still tired from the 5 am wake up call to get to the airport.

Had a few pops at a place called Pickwicks Pub before and after the match. The place was packed with Fulhamites. Met quite a few Fulham supporters, all interested in how I became a Fulham fan. Everyone was friendly and laid back. Lots of singing pre and post game. There were a few Basel fans there as well who were good sports. I still can't believe it costs 9.20 Swiss Francs for a pint of Guinness.

Took a Tram to the grounds packed in like a can of sardines. Had a beer and some food outside before going in. It was freezing but we stood the whole game which helped keep us warm (scoring 3 goals was also very helpful!). Surprised by how many empty seats there were in the Basel sections.

I thought it was a deserved win by Fulham. We did let them get the momentum for a while and let them get back in the match twice. But on the whole, there is no doubt we were the better team last night. Zamora had his name sung quite a few times last night.

Fans were in great form. Very loud and proud. We were stuffed into a corner behind the goal. I give credit to the Basel fans behind the goal on the opposite side of the stadium for their enthusiasm. They were rarely quite.

Here is a link to my photos on snapfish. Some were pretty good, others were crap. Some random photos from around Basel included as well. I took some videos at the game, if I can post them, I will.

http://www1.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailsha ... napfishuk/

It was a great experience and really glad and thankful that I had the opportunity to go. How can it be topped???? How about another 2-0 victory at the Cottage on Saturday.

Texted back and forth with Mike but we didn't cross paths while there.