Fulham should retire unbeaten, jokes 'Rocky' Roy Hodgson
Published 21:38 18/03/10 By Neil McLeman
Rocky Roy Hodgson joked he should retire unbeaten after knocking heavyweights Juventus out of the Europa League.
Little Fulham, who were nearly relegated two seasons ago, fought back from an early David Trezeguet goal to thrash the Italians superstars 4-1.
Zoltan Gera netted twice while Bobby Zamora and sub Clinton Dempsey also scored to give the Cottagers their most famous victory and a place in the last eight.
“I am on top of the world,” beamed Hodgson. “We should do like Rocky Marciano and retire while the going is good because it is not going to get any better than than this.
“It is a great win for the club - it must come close to the greatest night in its history.
“There was an electric atmosphere right from the first minute. We could not have got off to a worse start.
“But this team constantly surprises me. I can never recall a recovery like that. The other great results I have achieved have been more slender victories.
“People say they had players missing but you look on the bench and they had Del Piero, Iaquinta and Poulsen so we were still playing a very strong Juventus team.
“It was a great night of football, the crowd was fantastic and many of them will remember this night for a long time to come. I know we will.”
Clint Dempsey, who came off the bench to score the fourth goal to give Fulham the aggregate win with an chip shot, said: “Nine times out of ten, a shot like that wouldn’t have made it but sometimes you’ve got to go for it. Luckily it worked tonight.”
Furious Juventus fans protested outside Craven Cottage during the post-match press conferences.
Caretaker coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who saw captain Fabio Cannavaro and Jonathan Zebina sent off in a shambolic performance, said: “We played well with 11 players but the first sending off played a huge part in the final result. We really struggled and Fulham took advantage.”
