Atletico eyes Copa after Europa glory
Source: Agencies |
May 14, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ATLETICO Madrid shook off a debilitating inferiority complex to win the Europa League on Wednesday and could bury it for good with a triumph in the Copa del Rey final next week.
Diego Forlan scored both goals, the second just four minutes from the end of extra-time in a game that crackled with excitement from the start, after being set up on each occasion by his Argentine teammate Sergio Aguero.
Atletico is used to living in the shadow of nine-time European champion Real Madrid, but relegation in 2000 followed by eight years of under-achievement back in the top flight has taken its toll on Spain's third biggest club.
Its fans had started to revel in the nickname "the sufferers" and had to look back to 1996 for its last glimpse of silverware when Atletico won a league and cup double.
The club even used the idea to help promote season-ticket sales with a television advert that saw a child ask his father: "Daddy, why do we support Atletico?"
His father was unable to offer a reply.
"They have been living with a pathological pessimism," Santiago Segurola wrote in sports daily Marca.
"Now they have the opportunity to bury the ghosts and their fears. It's moments like these, full of happiness, that push them into believing, to progress, to return to a level that corresponds with their history."
True to its recent past, Atletico did not do it the easy way in Hamburg and needed a goal from Diego Forlan, four minutes from the end of extra-time to secure a 2-1 victory over Fulham.
"We deserved to win although we went through some bad moments, but Atletico are like this," 19-year-old goalkeeper David de Gea told reporters.
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores has been the architect of Atletico's turnaround in fortunes, taking over a side that was bottom of its Champions League group and 15th in La Liga last October.
He kept a low profile in the celebrations: "This is a moment for the players. I prefer to watch from afar. I asked them to be daring and to remember the footballer inside them that dreamed of winning titles."
He added: "It's difficult to control (the euphoria) and I'm not going to try."
Advertising campaign
Sports daily AS helped out the father who was unable to answer his son from Atletico's well-known advertising campaign.
"Son, this is why we support Atletico," it said above its write up of the match.
Meanwhile, the heartbreak was too raw and the experience too familiar for Fulham coach Roy Hodgson, his second final defeat in the competition after his Inter Milan suffered on penalties to Schalke 04 13 years ago.
Hodgson has been in charge of eight teams in seven countries since then and his reaction at missing out on his unexpected shot at redemption was understandably pained.
"It doesn't matter how much comfort I try to find, and there is a lot to be found in the season, at this moment now it is difficult to find any comfort, joy or enthusiasm," the 62-year-old Englishman told reporters. "You'd be surprised if my attitude was anything but bitterness and disappointment at seeing another good performance go unrewarded."
Hodgson joined Fulham at the end of 2007 and after staving off relegation in his first season he guided it to a place in the UEFA Cup and on to the giantkilling run that took it through to the final and earned him England's Manager of the Year award. This year its league form dipped a little and it eventually finished down in 12th. That means there will be no return to the competition next season.
Hodgson's success could see a string of offers from bigger clubs coming his way but for the moment he has no plans to leave.
Diego Forlan scored both goals, the second just four minutes from the end of extra-time in a game that crackled with excitement from the start, after being set up on each occasion by his Argentine teammate Sergio Aguero.
Atletico is used to living in the shadow of nine-time European champion Real Madrid, but relegation in 2000 followed by eight years of under-achievement back in the top flight has taken its toll on Spain's third biggest club.
Its fans had started to revel in the nickname "the sufferers" and had to look back to 1996 for its last glimpse of silverware when Atletico won a league and cup double.
The club even used the idea to help promote season-ticket sales with a television advert that saw a child ask his father: "Daddy, why do we support Atletico?"
His father was unable to offer a reply.
"They have been living with a pathological pessimism," Santiago Segurola wrote in sports daily Marca.
"Now they have the opportunity to bury the ghosts and their fears. It's moments like these, full of happiness, that push them into believing, to progress, to return to a level that corresponds with their history."
True to its recent past, Atletico did not do it the easy way in Hamburg and needed a goal from Diego Forlan, four minutes from the end of extra-time to secure a 2-1 victory over Fulham.
"We deserved to win although we went through some bad moments, but Atletico are like this," 19-year-old goalkeeper David de Gea told reporters.
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores has been the architect of Atletico's turnaround in fortunes, taking over a side that was bottom of its Champions League group and 15th in La Liga last October.
He kept a low profile in the celebrations: "This is a moment for the players. I prefer to watch from afar. I asked them to be daring and to remember the footballer inside them that dreamed of winning titles."
He added: "It's difficult to control (the euphoria) and I'm not going to try."
Advertising campaign
Sports daily AS helped out the father who was unable to answer his son from Atletico's well-known advertising campaign.
"Son, this is why we support Atletico," it said above its write up of the match.
Meanwhile, the heartbreak was too raw and the experience too familiar for Fulham coach Roy Hodgson, his second final defeat in the competition after his Inter Milan suffered on penalties to Schalke 04 13 years ago.
Hodgson has been in charge of eight teams in seven countries since then and his reaction at missing out on his unexpected shot at redemption was understandably pained.
"It doesn't matter how much comfort I try to find, and there is a lot to be found in the season, at this moment now it is difficult to find any comfort, joy or enthusiasm," the 62-year-old Englishman told reporters. "You'd be surprised if my attitude was anything but bitterness and disappointment at seeing another good performance go unrewarded."
Hodgson joined Fulham at the end of 2007 and after staving off relegation in his first season he guided it to a place in the UEFA Cup and on to the giantkilling run that took it through to the final and earned him England's Manager of the Year award. This year its league form dipped a little and it eventually finished down in 12th. That means there will be no return to the competition next season.
Hodgson's success could see a string of offers from bigger clubs coming his way but for the moment he has no plans to leave.
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