ROTTERDAM, April 11 (Reuters) - Feyenoord reached the UEFA Cup final after a 2-2 draw with Inter Milan on Thursday was good enough to take them through 3-2 on aggregate.
Pierre van Hooijdonk opened the scoring after 16 minutes and
John Dahl Tomasson doubled the lead on 34 minutes as Feyenoord
dominated the first half against the Italian league leaders.
Six minutes from time, Cristiano Zanetti got one back for
the visitors and Mohamed Kallon then levelled from the penalty
spot on the stroke of full-time but it was too late.
Feyenoord, who had won the first leg 1-0 in Milan, will face
Borussia Dortmund on their home ground in the final on May 8.
Inter coach Hector Cuper made seven changes from the first
leg but did not field the club's top-scorer Christian Vieri, and
started with strikers Ronaldo and Nicola Ventola.
EARLY SUCCESS
The pair were close to early success in the fourth minute
when Ventola narrowly failed to convert a Ronaldo cross.
Feyenoord slowly took control of the match and in the 16th
minute Robin van Persie clipped in from the left to find Van
Hooijdonk who netted from close range.
After taking the lead, Inter started to push forward, but in
the 34th minute they were caught on the break when Bonaventure
Kalou was sent deep with Dahl Tomasson free on his left side.
Kalou's first attempt cannoned off goalkeeper Francesco
Toldo into the path of Tomasson to score Feyenoord's second.
For most of the second half Feyenoord kept firmly in control
winning most of the midfield battles.
But at the end of the match the Rotterdam side ran out of
steam and Zanetti headed home a corner in the 84th minute -- the
first ever goal for an Italian side at Feyenoord.
Feyenoord's nerves were then put on edge in injury time
when Leonardo dos Santos fouled Emre and Spanish referee
Antionio Lopez Nieto awarded the visitors a penalty which Kallon
coolly put past Edwin Zoetebier.
The final seconds of the match were nerve-wracking for the
fans of the home side, especially when Ventola broke away on the
left, but his cross ended behind the Feyenoord goal.
'At the end of the match we were tired and could not hold
the ball in the team, that gave Inter the chance to come back,'
Van Hooijdonk said. 'But we have done something fantastic.'
'Over 180 minutes of soccer I think Inter were the best
side,' losing coach Cuper said, adding that Inter could leave
Rotterdam with their heads up.
Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk said: 'After Inter scored
their first goal I was worried that it could go wrong after
all.'
Feyenoord last won the UEFA Cup in 1974 when they beat
English premier league Tottenham Hotspur over two legs.
Midfielder Brett Emerton will watch the final from the
stands as he collected his second yellow card of the tournament
and will be suspended.