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Sevilla wins UEFA Cup again

17 May 2007 08:57 (UTC +04:00)

Spanish club Sevilla has won UEFA Cup for second time in a row, APA-Sport reports.
In final match held in Hempden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, the team won over other Spanish club Espanyol in penalties. After the extra time the score was 2-2. Sevilla goalkeeper Andreas Palop managed to keep three kicks and became final hero.

Sevilla (Spain) 2 â€“ 2 Espanyol (Spain) (full time 1:1, extra time 1:1), penalties 3:1.
Adriano, 18, Kanute, 115 - Riera, 28, Jonatas, 115

Sevilla coach Juande Ramos: â€œThere was no problem in our performance. We could have won the match in extra time. But Espanyol managed to equalize and we passed to penalies. I should accept that Espanyol is a good rival and it played very well even after the team was in minority. But we could win the cup again. It is a great relief after the victory. This will help us in Spanish championship. We will try to capture another cup this seasonâ€.
Espanyol coach Ernesto Valverde: â€œEspanyol continues its tiring traditions in UEFA Cup. We suffered defeat in final round again. Nevertheless, we have reason to be proud of ourselves. We didnâ€™t lose a game till final. We managed to win in 11 matches out of 15. In any case, we feel like champions. It is better to lose in penalties than in the game. It was hard to play in minority after 68 minutes. I think we could have won if we had played in full composition. Rival keeper Palop showed increadible performance in penalties. No doubt, he is the best player of final matchâ€.
Sevilla won over English Middlesbrough 4-0 in UEFA Cup final last year. Only Spanish club Read (Madrid) won EUFA Cup twice (1985, 1986) in a row so far. Espanyol reached UEFA Cup final in 1988. The team was beaten by German Bayer in penalties.
Final match referee Carlo Bertolini conducted Azerbaijan championship golden match between Neftchi and Khazar-Lankaran in Gadja two years ago. /APA-Sport/