HAMBURG (AP) — Diego Forlan scored his second goal of the game with four minutes remaining in overtime, giving Atletico Madrid a 2-1 victory over Fulham on Wednesday night in the first Europa League final.
Clint Dempsey became the first American to play in a European club soccer final when he entered in the 55th minute in place of Bobby Zamora. A day earlier, the 27-year-old from Nacogdoches, Texas, was selected for the 30-man preliminary U.S. World Cup roster.
Forlan put Atletico ahead in the 32nd minute when he redirected a mis-hit shot by teammate Sergio Aguero, but Simon Davies tied the score five minutes later with a right-footed volley.
Fulham, a small London club, was trying for the first major trophy in its 131-year history. Its only previous major final was a 2-0 loss to London neighbor West Ham in the 1975 FA Cup.
Atletico, overshadowed by Real Madrid, ended a record 14-year stretch without a major trophy. It won the Spanish league and cup double in 1996.
The Europa League, the successor to the UEFA Cup, is Europe's No. 2 club competition behind the Champions League.
Forlan got his second goal of the game when he flicked Aguero's cross under his plant leg, and the ball deflected off defender Brede Hangeland and rolled past goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Forlan, who earlier hit a post, was the only Atletico player not to celebrate at the final whistle. The Uruguayan instead shook hands with the exhausted Fulham players.
Zamora helped set up Fulham's goal but was forced from the field by the Achilles' tendon injury that kept him off England's preliminary World Cup roster.
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