Traditional underdog Fulham and persistent underperformer Atletico Madrid will contest the first Europa League final. Fulham, which has never won a trophy in more than a century playing in English football, came from behind for a 2-1 semifinal victory Thursday over Hamburg, the club which is due to host the May 12 final. Although Atletico lost 2-1 after extra time at Anfield, the 2-2 aggregate meant that the Spanish team advanced on away goals to reach its first Euro final since 1986. Its only Euro triumph was back in 1962 in a Cup Winners Cup competition which no longer exists. While Atletico's achievement in knocking out five-time European champion Liverpool was big enough, the night belonged to Fulham, the modest London club which has spent decades in the shadow of neighbors Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. With the final to be staged at its own Hamburg Arena, the Bundesliga team threw away a golden chance to win the game at home after Mladen Petric fired home a 30-metre free kick at Craven Cottage, the two sides having played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg. Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir awarded Hamburg a free kick for Danny Murphy's challenge on Ze Roberto and Petric fired home a 30m, left-foot drive. Hamburg fired Bruno Labbadia Monday after a 5-1 loss at Hoffenheim the day before and it looked as if temporary replacement Ricardo Moniz might lead the 1983 European Cup winner to glory. But Fulham, which knocked out the last UEFA Cup winner, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and German champion Wolfsburg on the way to the semifinal, hit back. It equalized in the 69th minute when Murphy's floated pass found Simon Davies who turned a defender and fired home. Seven minutes later, a corner dropped to Zoltan Gera and the Hungarian midfielder turned to shoot past Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost with his left foot from close range. "There's been a major piece of history here tonight," said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, the modest coach who guided Switzerland to a World Cup and Inter Milan to a UEFA Cup final. "The atmosphere is something that we'll remember for a long time. "We've had a very tough passage to the final and we've beaten a very good team here tonight to achieve that. I'm a little bit drained of emotion at this moment. You go through a roller coaster out there." Hurt at being eliminated from the Champions League, Liverpool was favorite to capture the consolation of winning's European football's second prize. It canceled out Atletico's 1-0 first-leg lead with Alberto Aquilani's 44th-minute strike and, when the game went to extra time, Yossi Benayoun added the second in the 95th minute only for Diego Forlan to reply for the Spanish club for the vital away goal. Liverpool's failure to win a title this season leaves it with only one thing to aim for, an outside chance of finishing fourth in the Premier League which would mean a shot at next year's Champions League. But it has two points to make up on Tottenham and Aston Villa to achieve that and another failure will mean more speculation about the future of manager Rafa Benitez. Bayern appeals Ribery ban Bayern Munich is appealing Franck Ribery's three-match ban which would see him miss next month's Champions League final, UEFA confirmed Thursday. The Frenchman was shown a straight red card for treading on the foot of Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez in the first-leg semifinal last Wednesday, which Bayern won 1-0 in Munich. He then missed Tuesday's 3-0 second-leg win while serving part of the ban. UEFA's decision means he will miss the final in Madrid on May 22, against Italian side Inter Milan. The appeal date has not yet been fixed, but many former players in Germany have expressed their amazement that Ribery was given such a harsh ban.
