Atletico Madrid Win The Europa League
Fulham had a great story and it was hard to root against them but in the end Atletico Madrid were deserving winners of the first Europa League as Diego Forlan goal late in extra time gave Atletico a 2-1 victory. It was a match up of a team wanting to win the game in Atletico against a team wanting to take it to penalties in Fulham. Bobby Zamora who to his credit gave all he could give, once he was subbed off it was all hands on deck time for Fulham.
Bobby Zamora gave it all he had but it was Diego Forlan who grabbed the headlines. You just can not teach that type of movement in the box. He knows where to be and the ball just finds him. Picture how good Barcelona would of been if they had signed Forlan with the money they used to buy Zlatan Ibrahimović, never mind the Eto’o part of the deal. Diego Forlan who of surely played in another European final if that had been the case.
You barely see it in the picture and yes it hit me once I saw Siamo waving the Portuguese flag over his shoulders but how great it is when players wrapped themselves in their home flag once they win something important. You don’t (or rarely do) see it in North American sports but in Europe the flags come out once a major trophy is won.
Speaking of trophies, couldn’t UEFA have updated the trophy instead of using the big vase from the UEFA Cup era?