Fulham go in to arguably the biggest game in their 131 year history. I have a strong feeling Dempsey will start this one, either upfront or on the wing with Zamora and Duff both only just having returned to training after injury. One Fulham player of course has already beaten Spainish opposition in the final to lift the UEFA/Europa Cup (Danny Murphy). Fulham have provided some exciting moments in the Europa Cup this year, that's why I'm looking forward to this one.
I'm not trying to start an argument or disparage the team, but what have Fulham won in their history? There must be a trophy somewhere.
The biggest competition they've evr won is the league that is now called the Coca Cola Championship. They've won that league twice, in 2001 and 1949. They reached the FA Cup final in 1975 which I think some would argue was a simalir or bigger game for them (the FA Cup meant a lot more than it does now in those days, even when I was a lad in the 1990's the FA Cup final was a much bigger deal than it is now). edited to add: I forget to say they were one of the "winners" of the Intertoto Cup in 2002, which along with twice being the champions of the league now called League Two, is their only other piece of silverware worth mentioning.
It's 19:45 BST... I think that makes it 2:45 EST. But i could definitely be wrong, please correct me!
Sucks that this won't be on either Goltv or FSC or ESPN. Hell GolTV has been showing this competition all year and they don't ********ing play the final. I swear i have no clue what i'm paying for. They barely show Barca recently too. guess i'm watching a shit feed. I hope i'm pleasantly surprised to find it showing on normal tv.
Just to add some flavor: 1. No other team has EVER played as many europa league games as Fulham in one season (19). If they win, they are arguably the best EL/UEFA cup team ever to win. 2. No team who has started off in the FIRST round has ever made won the final, or I think made it to the final.* Uefa CUP/EL changed format a lot over years. 3. If Fulham win, they will represent the first maiden Western-European team (minus RussianUkranian plutocrats) to hoist a (international without a national) trophy in a long time. I think we would have to look way back for the last maiden trophy holder... (Bayer leverkusen 1988 and Parma 1993) I doubt you will get those facts from other sources....
7 reasons why Athletico will win Europa League 1. David De Gea First – but in reality 43 – number of Athletico is practically two times younger than Mark Schwarzer and most important he started the season not first and not even as second goalkeeper in his team. Nevertheless he managed to take out of the way his competitors for the position. In the playoffs, De Gea had got less goals than Schwarzer and even more he got accepted in the national team. Allow me to say but Athletico’s goalkeeper is by far better than his opponent and a lot more motivated. 2. Quique Santsez Flores The most important reason for Fulham being in the final is their trainer. Very big experience and at last given the title of the best manager of 2010 in EPL! In comparison of what both have achieved practically Flores has nothing to show although his players are stating that “he is a gifted trainer who taught them how to keep their positions and play smart football”. Believe me; this is not logical to hear from big “Divas” like Forlan. I think they know something that we don’t. In this I should add that he looks much better than Hodgson and dresses better as well. Reminds me a bit of “the number one”, Jose Mourinho and has a good sense of humor as well. 3. Luck If you take a look at the statistics, Athletico had as many victories in the Europa League as they had in the qualifying rounds of Champions League. They won the match against Panathinaikos, managed to get 2 points from Chelsea and Porto and in the end they had to win the weak Apoel in order in the last minute to take the ticket to the Europa League. There, by following their plan (2- 2 Away and 0 at home) they managed to pass Galatassaray and Sporting and thanks to one goal away against Liverpool made it to the final. At the time that Fulham was giving all their energy and soul to make it to the final, the Spanish made it very quiet and without anybody to notice. Where else except a final, luck is needed… 4. Experience EPL is maybe the world’s greatest championship but allow me to say that the ambitions and goals of Athletico as a team are a lot bigger than Fulham’s. The Spanish in their history managed to win titles in their country and won the Uefa cup as well. In the beginning of 2000, both teams managed to return in the first league of their countries but Athletico came back very strong and is considered to be among the top 4 of Spain when Fulham 3 years ago by miracle escaped second division and last year managed to take the highest position ever in EPL ( 7th). Therefore, experience is another plus for Athletico even if this happened many years ago. 5. Tendency Both teams bad seasons in their leagues were compensated by their participation to the final. Even more in the final are two teams that were not among the favorites (at least not Fulham). In the Uefa cup the English teams have more titles but the difference is not that big (6 times against 5) but in the 21st century the Spanish have won it 3 times when the English made only once to the final. Regarding this final; the goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer still sees nightmares in his sleep. 6. Season The results that Atletico had this season and especially after November were so disappointing that the President of the club had to change the trainer. In this period they managed to reach the last positions of the Spanish league before they started their “fight back”. Fulham, on the other side, didn’t have these ups and downs. They were in the English Cup till the end of March and they even won against MU. The Spanish though made a great victory; on the Saint Valentine’s Day, Barcelona went down by them. In the bottom line Atletico managed to finish the league 3 positions higher that Fulham. 7. Diego Forlan Fulham maybe has the advantage (at least some people think they do) but no one can really argue with the front line of the Spanish. The quite rise of Bobby Zamora is of course considerable but the Athletico’s attack gave a bigger result (20 goals more), one round before the end of the Spanish League. If we even take a look at the defense; the Spanish are still better with -1 against -7 of the English. Forlan is the biggest name of the final. He is the person who has 18 goals in the Primera Division and thanks to his goal against Liverpool, they are in the final.
Re: 7 reasons why Athletico will win Europa League 1. You do know Schwarzer is going to South Africa, too, right? 2. Roy F**king Hodgson. 3. Luck? Um, Fulham Football Club. European Final. 4. Meaningless. 5. Meaningless. 6. Do you know just how many matches Fulham have played this season? 7. Unimpressed.
I'll call it right now. Forlan will score a goal but Fulham will win this with at least one Dempsey goal.
anybody remember the days when there would be 100 posts for a pregame of Adu/Altidore/Gooch sitting on the bench? Biggest game an American has every played in Europe and nobody cares! Man, times have changed, lol....
the Zanimal will start. Hodgs is just playing games. He might even be effective. this game will be won on the wings by Fulham as crosses into the box are their best weapon. For Atletico the question is can they beat Fulham with interior passing right down the middle. THis is poor mans Barcelona v. Chelsea.