They pinched themselves as they partied at Craven Cottage last night, because a season that began nine months ago today and has encompassed 18 European ties amid 59 fixtures will end in one grand final.
It hardly looked likely on July 30, when Fulham took on FK Vetra, of Lithuania, in the qualifying rounds. It did not even look feasible with 25 minutes left in this match.
We already had our script, or thought we did. A long-range goal from Mladen Petric had finished Fulham. Sigh: Petric again. You will remember him. He is the Croatia forward whose late, skidding strike from distance did for England and Steve McClaren on a rainy Wembley night in November 2007.
Petric’s fine free kick midway through the first half meant Fulham needed to score twice and Bobby Zamora, their totem, had been substituted when the pain from his swollen Achilles tendon had finally proved too much to bear. Brave effort from the underdogs, but destined to be in vain.
Yet soon after the effects of Zamora’s pre-match painkilling injection had worn off, something powerful entered Fulham’s collective bloodstream. They surged, scored twice and held on.
It was resilience worthy of champions, a sudden hurricane of willpower that blew through opponents who had looked almost comfortable, who had been almost there. And with one more win on the Continent, champions are exactly what Fulham will be.
Roy Hodgson’s side did not even afford the Europa League their full attention until Barclays Premier League safety was as good as assured. But a tournament that had enhanced the team’s season was certain to define it once Juventus had been crushed, 4-1 at Craven Cottage, in the round-of-16, second leg.
That night, all those prosaic but necessary virtues that Hodgson has instilled in his players, their organisation, solidity and determination, were joined by a kind of craziness, a mad defiance of the odds, a refusal to accept a defeat staring them in the face.
This, remember, a loss that would not provoke anger or accusations of failure, because everything that has happened in Fulham’s continental adventure has been a gigantic bonus. And clubs such as Fulham are expected to lose to clubs such as Juventus.
But Fulham fight and scrap and persist and win, even when they do not need to, when they have already exceeded expectations and defeat would be no disgrace. And that may be their most extraordinary triumph of all.
The same conviction and imagination that made the Juventus win possible was on show again last night once Zamora had succumbed. He did start, Hodgson having argued in the build-up that the 29-year-old is as important to Fulham as Wayne Rooney is to Manchester United.
Zamora has suffered with a swollen tendon for much of the season and the injury flared up and forced him off in the second half of last week’s first leg, although the player and his manager had expected it to heal more quickly.
Zamora missed training on Wednesday and Hodgson said Fulham would decide at midday yesterday if his leading scorer could play. Even as late as two hours before kick-off, he appeared to be undergoing a fitness test on the pitch. He was not moving fluently — nor did he once the game started.
The visiting team, under new management having dismissed Bruno Labbadia after a 5-1 defeat by Hoffenheim on Sunday, were more focused and forceful in the first half last night than they were on their own patch. Gone was the caution of the first leg: both teams went for it from the start.
Zamora scored after twenty seconds of the quarter-final, second leg in Wolfsburg, but did not show the same lethal early touch yesterday. Sent clear with two minutes gone thanks to a smart one-two with Zoltan Gera, he miscued his shot straight at Frank Rost, the Hamburg goalkeeper.
That sparkling chance could not mask the reality of the first twenty minutes, which was that Hamburg were the sharper side. They took the lead midway through the half. Petric’s fierce free kick was stunning and sudden, like a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky.
Over the wall, curving and sinking into the top corner when until the last milliseconds the trajectory seemed to be taking it high into the Hammersmith End. Mark Schwarzer, the goalkeeper, should have done better; Petric’s execution was faultless.
Zamora was replaced after almost an hour of bravely refusing to listen to his body. Quite why Jerome Boateng was still on the pitch five minutes later was a mystery. The centre back, expected to join Manchester City in the summer, inexplicably launched into a two-footed lunge at the ball near the corner flag that might have seriously hurt Gera, yet was given only a yellow card.
“Stand up if you still believe,” the home supporters bellowed. They were on their feet and fervently keeping the faith after 69 minutes when Simon Davies levelled the scores with a superb goal. The winger controlled Danny Murphy’s lofted pass with the back of his heel and flicked the ball inside Guy Demel before lashing past Rost.
With 15 minutes, left, the ball broke kindly for Gera and he turned and fired Fulham into the lead from seven yards. Bedlam. This old ground has probably never been noisier. A couple of scares followed as Hamburg tried to respond, but Fulham stood firm to reach the final. What comes after Hamburg? Hamburg. Hard to believe, but true, wonderfully true.
Fulham (4-4-1-1): M Schwarzer — J Paintsil (sub: E Nevland, 75min), A Hughes, B Hangeland, P Konchesky — D Duff, D Etuhu, D Murphy, S Davies — Z Gera — R Zamora (sub: C Dempsey, 58).Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, B H Riise, C Smalling, J Greening, K Dikgacoi. Booked:Hangeland.
Hamburg (4-4-2): F Rost — G Demel, J Boateng, J Mathijsen, D Aogo — R Tesche (sub: T Rincón, 56; sub: J Guerrero, 79), D Jarolim (sub: D Rozehnal, 90), Zé Roberto, J Pitroipa — M Petric, R van Nistelrooy. Substitutes not used: W Hesl, M Berg, T Arslan, K Schulz. Booked: Boateng.
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).
