Roma Celebrates Its Victory of the UEFA Europa Conference Cup
Jose Mourinho Leads Roma to UEFA Europa Conference Cup Victory, Adds Another Feather to His Cap
Roma Football Coach, Jose Mourinho
Roma Celebrates Its Victory of the UEFA Europa Conference Cup.
The day, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, will go down in history as a remarkable and one of the happiest days in the lives of the players, the entire coaching and non-coaching members of staff of AS Roma Football Club of Italy, as well as their teeming fans from across the world.
That was the day Roma, as it is simply called, pipped the feisty Feyenoord Football Club of the Netherlands in the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League.
UEFA Europa Conference League, for your information, is Europe’s tertiary club football tournament, the others being the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
The match took off on a cautious note as both sides probed and sized each other, with a view to discovering the key to unlock the door of success.
The venue of the match, the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, the home stadium of the Albania national team, as well as clubs Dinamo Tirana and Partizani, was filled to its brim.
Roma made the first meaningful advance, but Nicolò Zaniolo’s outstretched leg was a whisker away from a cute Lorenzo Pellegrini through ball.
Not too long after that, the forward took his chance, this time, latching on to Gianluca Mancini’s delivery, bringing it under control, and clipping over Justin Bijlow to break the deadlock.
Roma players in a celebratory mood after winning the maiden edition of the UEFA Conference League Cup
Feyenoord swiftly made several frantic efforts to reply, forcing Rui Patrício, the Portuguese-born goalkeeper of Roma, to deal with a succession of threats, but that didn’t yield the desired result.
In a rapid start to the second half, Gianluca Mancini, Italian-born player and Roma’s defender, diverted onto his own post, before Rui Patrício sprawled to tip Feyenoord Tyrell Malacia’s long-range effort onto the woodwork.
That averted danger for Mourinho’s men, who took a breath of respite.
As the stadium rocked, with fans cheering their teams, momentum continued to swing in the favour of Feyenoord whose Cyriel Dessers was the next to have a sniff as he attempted to bundle his way through the Roma penalty area, only to be thwarted by the last man Chris Smalling, Laufenn Player of the Match.
With the full-time whistle by the Romanian referee, István Kovács, looming, Arend Martijn Slot, the head coach of the Dutch side, urged his wards forward.
The centre referee, István Kovács, was joined by his fellow countrymen Vasile Marinescu and Ovidiu Artene as assistant referees, while Sandro Schärer of Switzerland and German Marco Fritz served as the fourth official and the video assistant referee, respectively.
German Marco Fritz’s compatriots Christian Dingert and Bastian Dankert served as the assistant and support VAR officials, respectively.
As the Feyenoord men piled on the pressure, the now compact Roma side dropped deep.
Feyenoord’s Bryan Linssen had an opportunity at the death, but the Giallorossi, the nickname by which Roma are known, had done enough to see out the final minutes.
Jose Mourinho celebrating Roma’s victory over Feyenoord Football Club of Netherlands in the UEFA Conference League Final, 2022
“Winning is very difficult, remarked José Mourinho, Roma’s head coach, at the end of the match.
“You need many ingredients. Our team has played 55 games. We reached the final being tired, but we kept it hidden.
“This is a fantastic group of players; that makes me emotional. We struggled in the second half; our opponents played well and they forced us to make defensive changes.”
Owen Lee Hargreaves, a former successful soccer player, on his own part, said: “It’s fantastic for these Roma players – they’ve worked incredibly hard all season.
“Let’s be honest, they were the better team, but Feyenoord had a decent campaign.
“They pushed tonight and dominated the ball, but defensively Roma was so good. Rui Patrício made a magnificent save in the second half which made a big difference in the game.”
The 1-0 victory by Roma over the Dutch club Feyenoord, at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, courtesy of Nicolò Zaniolo, was a sweet victory for both Roma and Italy, for many reasons.
Mourinho celebrates with his players after their victory in the inaugural UEFA Conference League, 2022
One, it was Roma’s first major UEFA club competition title and their first trophy since the 2007–08 Coppa Italia.
Two, it was a payback day for Roma, who had lost the 1984 European Cup Final to Liverpool and the 1991 UEFA Cup Final to fellow Italian club Inter Milan.
Three, it made Roma the first club from Italy to win a UEFA competition in 12 years since Inter won the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final.
That hard-earned victory made José Mourinho, the self-styled ‘Special One’ the first coach to win all three current men’s UEFA club trophies, in addition to more than 20 other trophies, with different top-flight soccer clubs, to his credit.
Roma Celebrates Its Victory of the UEFA Europa Conference Cup. THE END.
By Nini Samuel. Nini Samuel is a soccer fan of repute. She lives in Abuja, Nigeria.
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