A proud Roy Hodgson acknowledged the “outstanding achievement” of his Fulham side in reaching the Europa League Final.
The Whites were up against it having conceded Mladen Petrić’s away goal, but a second half rally brought strikes from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera to set up a showdown with Atletico Madrid.
“After going a goal down against the run of play I think we made a major piece of history here in a very special atmosphere," Hodgson said. “I think lots of teams would have lost their discipline and shape, but we stayed strong.
“To have reached a Europa League Final - and I do not care if you are Fulham or one of the top four - is an outstanding achievement. That will be recognised by everyone.
“Football is an emotional game, so in a Semi-Final the players could be excused for losing their heads or discipline, but they did not do it tonight. It was a great performance because it would have been so easy for us to lose our heads after the great goal they scored.
“I thought we were good value for our victory and the character of this team has been proved time and time again.
“It's been an amazingly long season, yet watching the players run around in the second half it didn't look as though we’d played 59 games this season.
“We're in the Final because we’ve played very, very well throughout and knocked out some very difficult teams, not least Hamburg. It’s been a wonderful journey that I’m really proud of.”
Bobby Zamora passed a late fitness test to start the game, but he was clearly in some discomfort and was eventually withdrawn in the 58th minute.
There is the better part of a fortnight until the Final, and Hodgson hopes that will be enough time to get his talisman fit enough to feature.
“The injection we gave him worked quite well but he was beginning to feel the effects in the second half,” he said.
“The problem will exist until he gets more treatment on it. But if I rest him for one or two of the league matches, perhaps he will be fit for the Final.”