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Roy Hodgson delighted for Fulham

last updated Friday 09th April 2010, 8:39 AM
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson
     
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Fulham manager Roy Hodgson feels Bobby Zamora can do no more to prove to Fabio Capello he deserves a place in England's World Cup squad after the striker fired Fulham into the semi-finals of the Europa League.

The former Spurs hitman scored his 19th goal of the season just 21 seconds into Thursday's quarter-final second leg to seal a 3-1 aggregate win for the Londoners.

Zamora has yet to earn an England cap, but his beautifully-taken winner will only increase calls for the Italian to give the striker a chance before Capello chooses his squad for South Africa.

Zamora was a constant thorn in the side of the German champions, outshining his opposite number Edin Dzeko, who is rumoured to be the subject of big-money interest from Chelsea and Manchester City.

Hodgson said: "I read that the price for Edin Dzeko was 40million euros, so we might have to up our price for Bobby Zamora. But we don't want to sell him.

"Bobby Zamora is a very good player. This year, by adding goals to his excellent build-up play, he's come to everyone's attention and he can do no more than continue to play well.

"Then, I'm sure when Fabio Capello is looking at the players available to take to the World Cup, he will make his assessment. I know Fabio is aware of Bobby as a player, but Bobby can't do any more himself."

Zamora picked up Zoltan Gera's pass and performed a delicate turn on the edge of the box before scoring with a coolly-taken finish.

His performance was even more impressive given that he was a doubt before kick off with an Achilles injury.

"The medical staff were always confident Bobby's Achilles wouldn't be a problem and, as you saw, it wasn't," said Hodgson, who's side will face Hamburg in the last four.

"He was excellent throughout.

"It was excellent combination play throughout the midfield for the goal and he was very cool and calm in taking the chance."

Fulham have accounted for Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Basle on their way to the last four and they never looked like surrendering their two-goal advantage from the first leg in this tie.

The Cottagers and Liverpool are the only English teams to remain in Europe after Manchester United and Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage this week.

Hodgson admits flying the flag for the Barclays Premier League in Europe makes him even more proud of this latest victory.

"We're very proud to be in a semi-final as Fulham and, most importantly of all, we are proud for Fulham, our owner and our supporters," said the 62-year-old.

"It's an extra bonus that, with our best teams this year not being able to reach a semi-final of the Champions League, it's a very nice feeling for ourselves and Liverpool to be in semi-finals.

"We'll face a very arduous task if we want to get to the final but the main thing is we're in the semi-final and we have that chance."

Wolfsburg coach Lorenz-Gunther Kostner acknowledged his side were second best throughout and he believes Fulham can reach the final in Hamburg on May 12.

He said: 'We didn't have the team with enough bite and the right attitude tonight.

"We made mistakes and we made the wrong substitutions. I'm sorry, the players are sorry.

"They are a very good team with a very good defence and I'd always warned it was not going to be an easy game.

"If Fulham play in a very compact way like they did tonight then they have a very good chance of making the final."







































































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