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Europa League final: Atletico Madrid v FulhamVenue: HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg Date: Wednesday, 12 May 2010 Kick-off: 1945 BSTCoverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 live, live on Channel Five and text commentary on BBC Sport website
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson believes his team are perfectly primed to lift the Europa League trophy on Wednesday.Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Hamburg have all been beaten by Fulham en route to the final, with Spain's Atletico Madrid now standing in their way.
And manager of the year Hodgson believes they can defy the odds again.
"If the question is whether we really want to win, have we prepared as best we can, will we give our all - the answer is a big, big yes," he said.
Fulham arrived in Hamburg by plane on Tuesday after airspace reopened following disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.
Hodgson had suggested on Sunday that European football chiefs Uefa should postpone the match until it was clear both teams could fly to the venue.
However, with a dreaded 570-mile road trip avoided, Hodgson was in an altogether more relaxed mood about the fixture as he spoke to reporters before his team's training session at the Hamburg Arena.
"Whatever happens this has been a very good season," reflected Hodgson, who when he was in charge at Inter Milan saw his team lose on penalties to Schalke 04 in the two-legged final of the competition's former incarnation - the Uefa Cup - in 1997.
"This is a greater occasion [than in 1997] because it's a one-off final. Playing the final at home and away wasn't the same.
"Of course, my memories of that final are very vivid. If you lose on penalties in front of your own crowd the memory will stay with you - and it won't be a happy one.
"I'm proud of reaching that final but I hope Inter Milan will forgive me for saying that I'm even prouder of this."
Hodgson's carefully crafted team of modest buys (Zoltan Gera from West Brom for £1.5m), obscure European finds (Brede Hangeland from FC Copenhagen) and rejuvenated 'Big Four' cast-offs (Danny Murphy, ex-Liverpool, and former Chelsea winger Damien Duff) have negotiated 14 games on their way to their maiden European final.
Former Anfield playmaker Murphy played all 117 minutes of Liverpool 5-4 Uefa Cup final win over another Spanish side, Deportivo Alaves, in Dortmund in 2001.
And Fulham captain Murphy, who only two seasons ago scored a goal at Portsmouth to keep the then struggling west Londoners in the Premier League, sensed his team were ready to seize a historic moment.
"It's been a fantastic couple of years for both the club and myself and to captain the team during one of its most successful times has been a very proud spell of my career," said the former England midfielder.
"This final will be the highlight of that - sorry, getting ahead of myself there!"
Favourites Atletico opted to travel to Hamburg a day early on Monday in order to avoid any possible travel disruptions.
And their logistical caution was mirrored in coach Quique Sanchez Flores's pre-match thoughts.
"Fulham have excellent players," said Flores, who has also guided his side to a Spanish Cup final against Sevilla since taking over from Abel Resino, who departed in the wake of the club's 4-0 Champions League drubbing at Chelsea last October.
"The physical aspect and strategy come together. We have to take some risk but not open ourselves to dead-ball situations.
"There are many reasons to be optimistic but we have to be careful. And we need to be courageous."
Two players Flores no doubt hopes do not feature on Wednesday are Fulham striker Bobby Zamora, who faces a race against time to overcome an Achilles tendon problem, and winger Duff, who is recovering from a leg injury.
Zamora, who has scored eight times during Fulham's European odyssey, which began on 30 July against Lithuania side FK Vetra, has not played since the 2-1 semi-final, second leg win over Hamburg on April 29 at Craven Cottage, when Duff was also hurt.
But Hodgson's latest report on the pair was upbeat and he added: "Both players trained on Monday and that was very, very positive.
"I've been given no indication that they're suffering from a reaction so my hope is that they'll be available."
Uruguay international Diego Forlan and Argentina star Sergio Aguero are likely to spearhead Atletico's attacking threat.
Forlan scored a goal in both legs of his side's semi-final - the second an extra-time away goal - to end Liverpool's hopes of reaching the final.
But the former Manchester United player preferred to envisage lifting the trophy than reproducing his scoring heroics.
"I am part of a team and the designated forward, so it is my job to score goals," stated Forlan, who also knocked out Galatasaray with an extra-time strike in Istanbul at the last-32 stage.
"The most important thing is that we perform well and win - it doesn't matter who scores. Getting a goal is always beautiful and something I enjoy - getting two against Liverpool was wonderful and not just because I played for Manchester United. But now all I want is to win the trophy."
Italian Nicola Rizzoli, 39, will be the referee for the final. He took charge of the quarter-final return leg between Manchester United and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson believes his team are perfectly primed to lift the Europa League trophy on Wednesday.Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Hamburg have all been beaten by Fulham en route to the final, with Spain's Atletico Madrid now standing in their way.
And manager of the year Hodgson believes they can defy the odds again.
"If the question is whether we really want to win, have we prepared as best we can, will we give our all - the answer is a big, big yes," he said.
Fulham arrived in Hamburg by plane on Tuesday after airspace reopened following disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.
Hodgson had suggested on Sunday that European football chiefs Uefa should postpone the match until it was clear both teams could fly to the venue.
However, with a dreaded 570-mile road trip avoided, Hodgson was in an altogether more relaxed mood about the fixture as he spoke to reporters before his team's training session at the Hamburg Arena.
"Whatever happens this has been a very good season," reflected Hodgson, who when he was in charge at Inter Milan saw his team lose on penalties to Schalke 04 in the two-legged final of the competition's former incarnation - the Uefa Cup - in 1997.
"This is a greater occasion [than in 1997] because it's a one-off final. Playing the final at home and away wasn't the same.
"Of course, my memories of that final are very vivid. If you lose on penalties in front of your own crowd the memory will stay with you - and it won't be a happy one.
"I'm proud of reaching that final but I hope Inter Milan will forgive me for saying that I'm even prouder of this."
Hodgson's carefully crafted team of modest buys (Zoltan Gera from West Brom for £1.5m), obscure European finds (Brede Hangeland from FC Copenhagen) and rejuvenated 'Big Four' cast-offs (Danny Murphy, ex-Liverpool, and former Chelsea winger Damien Duff) have negotiated 14 games on their way to their maiden European final.
Former Anfield playmaker Murphy played all 117 minutes of Liverpool 5-4 Uefa Cup final win over another Spanish side, Deportivo Alaves, in Dortmund in 2001.
And Fulham captain Murphy, who only two seasons ago scored a goal at Portsmouth to keep the then struggling west Londoners in the Premier League, sensed his team were ready to seize a historic moment.
"It's been a fantastic couple of years for both the club and myself and to captain the team during one of its most successful times has been a very proud spell of my career," said the former England midfielder.
"This final will be the highlight of that - sorry, getting ahead of myself there!"
Favourites Atletico opted to travel to Hamburg a day early on Monday in order to avoid any possible travel disruptions.
And their logistical caution was mirrored in coach Quique Sanchez Flores's pre-match thoughts.
"Fulham have excellent players," said Flores, who has also guided his side to a Spanish Cup final against Sevilla since taking over from Abel Resino, who departed in the wake of the club's 4-0 Champions League drubbing at Chelsea last October. "The physical aspect and strategy come together. We have to take some risk but not open ourselves to dead-ball situations.
"There are many reasons to be optimistic but we have to be careful. And we need to be courageous."
Two players Flores no doubt hopes do not feature on Wednesday are Fulham striker Bobby Zamora, who faces a race against time to overcome an Achilles tendon problem, and winger Duff, who is recovering from a leg injury.
Zamora, who has scored eight times during Fulham's European odyssey, which began on 30 July against Lithuania side FK Vetra, has not played since the 2-1 semi-final, second leg win over Hamburg on April 29 at Craven Cottage, when Duff was also hurt.
But Hodgson's latest report on the pair was upbeat and he added: "Both players trained on Monday and that was very, very positive.
"I've been given no indication that they're suffering from a reaction so my hope is that they'll be available."
Uruguay international Diego Forlan and Argentina star Sergio Aguero are likely to spearhead Atletico's attacking threat.
Forlan scored a goal in both legs of his side's semi-final - the second an extra-time away goal - to end Liverpool's hopes of reaching the final.
But the former Manchester United player preferred to envisage lifting the trophy than reproducing his scoring heroics.
"I am part of a team and the designated forward, so it is my job to score goals," stated Forlan, who also knocked out Galatasaray with an extra-time strike in Istanbul at the last-32 stage.
"The most important thing is that we perform well and win - it doesn't matter who scores. Getting a goal is always beautiful and something I enjoy - getting two against Liverpool was wonderful and not just because I played for Manchester United. But now all I want is to win the trophy."
Italian Nicola Rizzoli, 39, will be the referee for the final. He took charge of the quarter-final return leg between Manchester United and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.