Albian Ajeti takes his team-mates’ plaudits after scoring the only goal at Tannadice last night.
Luuk de Jong has insisted he was primed to play his part in a sixth Europa League triumph for Sevilla after helping them see off Inter Milan in Cologne.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach and Newcastle striker reprised his heroics when, after his winner had dumped Manchester United out of the competition at the semifinal stage, he scored twice in the Spaniards’ 3-2 final victory over Antonio Conte’s men.
De Jong said: “It’s incredible. We’ve had such tough games all tournament, but we have played so well as a team. You could see it during the tournament, we were really a team, like a family.
“We worked together and it didn’t matter who played, who came on the pitch, everybody was working for each other.
“It was tough. We started well but, out of nothing, they scored a goal because of the penalty. But then I could score two headers. It’s an amazing feeling for me and luckily at the end, we could win the game.”
De Jong, who had scored only eight goals all season, came off the bench against United but was included from the start against Inter and manager Julen Lopetegui’s faith was richly rewarded.
He cancelled out Romelu Lukaku’s fifthminute penalty with a diving header and then powered home an Ever Banega free-kick to make it 2-1, though it was Lukaku’s own goal which won it for Sevilla after Diego Godin had levelled.
Asked when he was told he would be playing, de Jong said: “This morning, Lopetegui told me. But I told him – like I told him for the other games – that I’m always ready when he needs me, and today it worked really well for me.
“I think it’s my speciality. The first cross from Jesus Navas was perfect. I anticipated at the first post and it went in. And then the second, a great cross from Banega, and it went in perfectly.”
Lopetegui, who was sacked by both Spain and Real Madrid before taking over at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, was delighted to have secured the first trophy of his reign.
He said: “It’s very special to win a cup and this, for me, for l the club, for our fans, is very special. We are very happy because we have worked very hard and then we have a happy ending.”
He added: “Luuk is a very good player. He was waiting for his moment and he arrived at the right moment.”
Inter keeper Samir Handanovic vowed he and his team-mates would bounce back from their disappointment on a night when Carlos might have been sent off for the challenge which led to the early penalty.
Handanovic said: “We are very disappointed but we have to move on. We just hope to play many other important games like this in the future. The foundation is there.
“We have to move on. You learn from defeats.”