Europa League win

The Spanish capital's perpetual bridesmaid club Atletico Madrid became the center of attention this Wednesday, outlasting Fulham in extra time and winning the inaugural Europa League trophy.

Diego Forlan of Uruguay scored both goals for Atletico, and was set up on both occasions by his Argentine strike partner Sergio "Kun" Aguero.

Four minutes from time in the second extra time period, Forlan got a glancing heel to Aguero's cross from the left byline, which was enough to dribble in for a goal after a deflection off of defender Brede Hangeland's thigh.

It was a scrappy ending to a scrappy game, but one which most observers, including Atletico defender Tomas Ujfalusi, felt was deserved.

"We fought for 120 minutes, and got the goals we needed from our best player," said the defender, who was returning to what was his home stadium for four years as a Bundesliga player.

Ujfalusi had never won a trophy in his career, which has taken him from Olomouc in the Czech Republic to Hamburg to Florence to Madrid, and was clearly moved after the match. "It's for moments like this that we play football. It's an unbelievable feeling," he said.

The build-up

The match didn't catch fire until the 32nd minute, and even then didn't do so with much elegance. Aguero scuffed his left-footed shot attempt from the edge of the penalty box. Luckily for him, though, Forlan was streaking into the area just then, and stuck out his boot to one-time the ball for a 1-0 lead.

But the travelling Fulham fans didn't have long to wait before their side had evened the score - in similarly disjointed fashion.

A slip from an Atletico defender meant Bobby Zamora found himself free on the left wing, but a poor touch robbed him of the chance to shoot as he came inside. Zoltan Gera, however, was in place to cross the ball back out to the wing, where Simon Davies was waiting and scored with a neat volley.

Not long after halftime, Fulham's goal-scoring hero Bobby Zamora succumbed to the ankle injury that had kept him out of Fabio Capello's provisional England squad at midweek, forcing him out of the game. His replacement, Clint Dempsey nearly put Fulham in front within minutes of entering, but saw his shot parried by the Atletico keeper - and was subsequently called for offside.

As the match wore on, Atletico began to dominate possession, but had little to show for it as they failed to put many shots on target.

Extended play

The second half came to a close and the match entered extra time, but the Spanish side's control of the ball continued. Forlan and Aguero nearly linked up for another go-ahead strike at the end of the first period, but this time it was the Argentine on the end of the chance, and he pushed the ball wide.

Fulham looked livelier in the second extra time, earning free kicks in dangerous positions through the enterprising runs of Dempsey and Gera, but it was Atletico who tipped the game's balance in their favor as the Madrid side's dynamic South American duo struck again to end the game.

The loss was a particularly bitter one for Fulham's goalkeeper, Australia's Mark Schwarzer. In 2006 he had led Middlesborough to the final of the UEFA Cup (the forerunner tournament to the Europa League), only to fall to Sevilla.

"When you look at the goals, you'll see how unlucky we were," said Schwarzer.

"We had the game in our hands, had our own chances, and hoped that would be enough. But it didn't turn out that way."

Author: Matt Hermann
Editor: Darren Mara