Injury a ‘kick in the teeth’ for Zamora
Just two days after being forced to reject the chance to play for England because of his Achilles injury, Zamora endured Wednesday night’s crushing 2-1 extra-time defeat in the Europa League final.
The 29-year-old managed to limp through 54 minutes against Atletico Madrid at the Hamburg Arena and has an operation pencilled in for next week.
As the club’s top scorer he has been critical to Fulham’s extraordinary march to the final and his form impressed England coach Fabio Capello.
Capello was hoping to include him in his provisional 30-man World Cup squad until Zamora informed the Italian he would be in no shape to participate in South Africa.
“It’s one of those things. The injury came at a bad time and the last five weeks have been terrible for me,” said Zamora
“It’s been an up-and-down season really because while it’s been so good on the pitch, to now pick up this injury has kicked me in the teeth.
“It’s come during the last couple of weeks and the possibility of going to the World Cup with England.
“That’s football, it’s a cruel game – just look at us losing this final in the last couple of minutes.
“I told Fabio that I was struggling and I knew that had I gone I wouldn’t have done myself or England justice.
“The World Cup’s a massive tournament. It’s not about myself, it’s about England.”
Having contributed so much to Fulham this season, Zamora was determined to be involved in Wednesday night’s final.
A crafty 116th-minute winner from the brilliant Diego Forlan, who also fired the opener, brought the club’s odds-defying European adventure to an excruciating end.
Fulham may have been denied the magical ending to a spectacular season but Zamora insists they should hold their heads high after surpassing all expectations.
“We’re very disappointed but we should feel very proud at what has been a fantastic year,” he said.
“It shows how far Fulham have come and how good we are.
“We’ve haven’t had an easy route to the final – we played the holders Shakhtar Donetsk, the German champions Wolfsburg and Juventus.
“There were some extremely tough games but we showed the character we have and produced some great performances.
“At the start of the season no-one in the world would have predicted we’d be in the Europa League final.
“We’ll knuckle down in the Premier League next season.
“There won’t be so many games and the objective will be to get back into Europe again.
“It will be tough but with the players and manager we have in Roy Hodgson it’s possible.
“This has been disappointing but we’ll just fight harder to get back.”
Zamora’s contract expires in 2012 and Fulham will be keen to offer their top scorer fresh terms as reward for his form.
It completes a remarkable upturn in fortunes for a player who as recently as December was being heckled by a small section of his own fans.
“A new contract would be lovely. I’d love one,” he said.
“I had a good season last year but a lot people just look at the number of goals you score. I’ve worked just as hard last year.
“When the ball goes into the back of the net everyone thinks you’re a different player.
“I’m still the same player but that’s football and hopefully I’ll keep scoring.”
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