After guiding AS Roma to a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League finals, Jose Mourinho could not hold back his tears.
On Wednesday night in Tirana, Nicolo Zaniolo’s lone goal was enough to give the Italian giants a hard-fought victory over Feyenoord.
In the 32nd minute, the Italian forward pounced on Gianluca Mancini’s lofted pass over the top of the defense and lobbed the ball past Justin Bijlow.
The win ended Roma’s 14-year trophy drought and cemented Mourinho’s status as the first manager to win the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League in the same season.
Mourinho, who was quoted by Metro Sports as fighting back tears while speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the victory, said:
‘There are so many things going through my head. So many things at the same time.
‘I’ve been at Roma for 11 months, I realised the moment I arrived what it meant, they were waiting for this. As I told the lads in the locker room in Turin, we did what we needed to do, qualify for the Europa League. We had great work all season.
‘This was not work tonight, this was history. We had to write history. We wrote it.’ He continued:
‘This remains in the history of Roma, but also mine. I was told only I, Sir Alex [Ferguson] and Giovanni Trapattoni won trophies in three different decades. It makes me feel a little old, but it’s nice for my career!
‘Now I will go on vacation and sit on the beach to think about all this for a while!
‘The great thing about my career is that, aside from the Europa League with Manchester United, doing it with Porto, Inter and Roma is very, very, very special. It’s one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you made the investments to win, but it’s quite another to win when something remains immortal, that feels truly special.
‘I think of myself, of course, but above all the Roma fans who can celebrate tonight, enjoy themselves and remember this night forever.’
