YEARS OF HURT TEARS OF JOY
Fornals caught up in emotion of historic goal
PABLO FORNALS slammed the masked hooligans who hijacked his “beautiful moment” – but he hopes his best highlight as a West Ham player is still to come.
The Hammers substitute’s 94th-minute winner against AZ Alkmaar sealed their place in the Europa Conference League final, and blackshirt Dutch thugs cannot take tearful Fornals’ glory away.
West Ham do not expect any of their players to face disciplinary action after they rushed to defend their families and friends when hooded fans tried to storm a
VIP enclosure in Alkmaar – and nor should they.
It would be an affront to justice if they were punished for daring to protect their own flesh and blood under attack from a feral scourge (right). Manager David Moyes delivered a rousing Braveheart speech and then led the bawdy dressing-room celebrations after the Hammers sealed their first major final appearance since 2006.
It is their first in Europe for 47 years.
But Fornals missed the communal knees-up and had to listen to his team-mates partying after he was picked for doping control.
Somewhere in the midst of the earlier disturbing scenes in the AFAS Stadion, he had been left sobbing on the ground, overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment.
Just as his spectacular goal in the 4-0 win at Bournemouth last month reduced him to tears, Fornals’ sixth goal of the season brought out the garden sprinkler again in Alkmaar.
He said: “When the referee whistled for the end, I just threw myself into the floor and started crying like a kid. I don’t know why, but I seem to cry a lot this season!
“Obviously, I was really concerned about how the family of my team-mates and the West Ham family are.
“Hopefully, everyone is OK and the police can do their job and realise who did it.
“It’s not great when you are in that beautiful moment and people try to use violence against you.
“We can’t do anything else but try to help the police and pray for the family of my people being healthy.”
Fornals has had to settle for a bit-part in West Ham’s balancing act of conquering Europe while stumbling towards Premier League safety. They are all but safe in the relegation battle now, and a point against Leeds will make survival mathematically certain.
Then the Irons can turn their attention to the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina in Prague on June 7.
Fornals said: “Just to have the chance to play the final is very good, but after this complicated season, if we can bring the cup to east London it will be even better. Hopefully this will not be the best moment of my West Ham career and there are more to come.
“It’s going to be the first final
I’ve played in, so it’s massive for me, massive for the lads, massive for the club. That’s how happy we are.
“I was emotional because it’s been difficult and in difficult moments, any good news is even bigger.
“I’m having a lot of feelings inside myself and when I score or have moments like that, when I’m with my son receiving a hug or a kiss from him, I realise how happy I am and how proud to be here right now.”
Hammers skipper Declan Rice paid tribute to Fornals’ professionalism, saying: “He’s not played as much as he wanted this year, but every time he has come on he has given everything for the badge, for the shirt.
“To score that goal to send us into the final, his name is going to be written in West Ham history forever.”