ECL: Mourinho wins historic trophy for Roma as another Nigerian suffers final heartbreak
Going into Wednesday's final in Albania, the Giallorossi had never won a major UEFA competition
Jose Mourinho Wednesday night became the first coach in history to win the new Europa Conference League title as he led Roma to a lone goal victory over Feyenoord.
Roma emerged champions thanks to a marvellous bit of skill from Nicolò Zaniolo in Tirana, beating Feyenoord 1-0 in the Conference League Final.
Zaniolo’s goal started with a ball over the top from center back Gianluca Mancini that Zaniolo controlled with his chest. Zaniolo then pushed the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Justin Bijlow with the tip of his boot.
At 22 years and 327 days, Zaniolo became the youngest Italian player to score in a European final since Alessandro Del Piero’s goal at 22 years and 200 days for Juventus in a loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Champions League final.
An attacking midfielder, Zaniolo produced five goals and three assists in 10 Conference League games.
After Zaniolo’s goal, Mourinho — realizing how long there was to go — gestured for his excited bench players to sit and calm down
While it was a historic night for the Portuguese, it turned to be another heartbreak for a Nigerian player Cyril Dessers in an European club cup final.
In the Europa League, the trio of Leon Balogun, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey lost out to Frankfurt while Asisat Oshoala suffered similar fate in the Women's Champions League where Barcelona were hammered by Lyon.
Going into Wednesday's final in Albania, the Giallorossi had never won a major UEFA competition, their only success being the Fairs Cup in 1960-61, which was a precursor to the UEFA Cup.
They did reach the Final of the 1984 European Cup against Liverpool and the 1991 UEFA Cup, whih they lost to Inter.
