Fulham vs Atletico Madrid

May 6, 2010 - PRLog -- Fulham, which plays along the banks of the Thames, has long been overshadowed in London by Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham United. But the Cottagers beat defending UEFA Cup champion Shakhtar Donetsk, Italian power Juventus and German champion Wolfsburg en route to the final.

"There's been a major piece of history here tonight," said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, the modest coach who guided Switzerland to a World Cup berth and Inter Milan to a UEFA Cup final. "The atmosphere is something that we'll remember for a long time. We've had a very tough passage to the final and we've beaten a very good team here tonight to achieve that. I'm a little bit drained of emotion at this moment. You go through a roller-coaster out there."

Hamburg was playing its first game under interim coach Ricardo Moniz, who took over Monday after Bruno Labbadia was fired.

Dempsey, whose 82nd-minute goal on a flick eliminated Juventus in the third round, replaced Bobby Zamora, who has been bothered by an Achilles' tendon problem.

Atletico can win a double by beating Fulham and then Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final a week later.

"We were at a pretty low moment earlier in the year and no one would have expected us to get this far," Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said through a translator. "It's an honor and a great source of pride to be sole representative of Spain now in the European finals.

"Any English teams are tough opposition - they are always competitive and I am sure Fulham are no exception to that."

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