Hodgson, Schwarzer disappointed by second final defeat (News Feature)

By Peter Auf der Heyde May 13, 2010, 0:17 GMT

Hamburg - It was deja vu for Fulham manager Roy Hodgson and his goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer in losing the Europa League final 2-1 to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.

Man-of-the-Match Diego Forlan found a late winner four minuts from the end of extra-time after having earlier given the Spanish side the lead in the 32nd minute, only for Simon Davies to equalize five minutes later.

It was the second time that Hodgson and Schwarzer had tasted defeat in the competition, with Hodgson losing with Inter Milan against Schalke on penalties in 1997 and Schwarzer 4-0 against Sevilla with Middlesbrough in 2006.

Had Fulham won the game, they would have become only the second club in the history of European club competition to win a major European trophy, without ever having won a major domestic title.

The only club to have managed that is Germany's Bayer Leverkusen, who won the UEFA Cup in 1988 without having tasted domestic success. They have since won the German Cup once, though.

'We are all very, very disappointed. We were looking towards penalties and then anything can happen. The players thought they had a good chance of winning penalties,' Hodgson said.

'To concede a goal so late in the game does not allow us to come back and we had no way back from there.

'But even though we lost, I am very proud of the players performance and I think we can be very proud of finishing second in such a competition.'

Hodgson, whose previous coaching jobs include the Swiss national team, said that even though the side had achieved much more this season than they could ever have imagined, that was little consolation.

'That does not help now. My attitude can only be bitter disappointment and sadness that another great effort from the players has gone unrewarded.

'It is very difficult to comfort players after such a defeat but I told them not to be disappointed. They can't do more than they did today.'

Schwarzer, who will be joining his Australian national team colleagues on May 19 to prepare for the June 11-July 11 World Cup in South Africa, said that this defeat was even worse than the hammering he endured in the 2006 final.

'That was a clear cut result, but this time we were so close and a penalty shoot-out is like a lottery. We are just gutted to have lost so late in the game.'

He said that after playing in the 2006 final he thought that such an opportunity would never come again.

'But it did and then to lose it is terrible,' he said.

'I think that it was simply impossible for us to come back from going a goal down with just four minutes to go. If we had scored then, we would also not have thrown the game away, I am sure.'

'I will now try to enjoy a few days break before starting to gear up for the World Cup.'