Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera on Wednesday dedicated his side’s UEFA Europa League triumph over Ajax to the victims of the deadly bomb attack in Manchester on Monday, while Juan Mata and Paul Pogba also paid tribute to those affected.
A minute’s silence was held before the game, which turned into applause, in honor of the 22 people killed and 64 injured in the blast at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena the night before the team left for the final in Stockholm.
Goals from France international Pogba and Armenia’s Henrik Mkhitaryan in each half gave United their first European trophy since 2007-2008, and their first Europa League crown.
Photo: Reuters
“I want to dedicate the trophy to the victims,” man-of-the-match Herrera told reporters after the victory. “This is just football, but what happened on Monday was horrible. We want peace in the world and respect. This happened in Manchester, but everywhere we have to be a united world to fight for peace and to have no more attacks.
“Yesterday morning we were devastated and really sad,” the Spaniard added. “It was difficult to train yesterday, but the manager told us is that the only thing we could do is win this for them.”
A little more than 48 hours after the attack, substitute Wayne Rooney took over the captain’s arm band and raised the Europa League trophy at the Friends Arena, the stadium where Grande began her world tour back on May 8.
“Obviously, football doesn’t bring back the lives which were lost, but to try and give some happiness to the city was vital to us,” 31-year-old club captain Rooney told reporters. “I knew people who were at the concert, so it’s not easy, it’s not a nice moment — not just for Manchester, but for the whole of England and we all felt that. Then we had to go out and put a performance in to win the game.”
Rooney could not say if the game would be his last in a Manchester United shirt.
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “This is a time now that I will go and spend with my family, there’s decisions I have to make and I’ll do that over the next few weeks.”
Herrera’s compatriot Mata said Monday’s shocking events in Manchester gave the win in Stockholm extra significance.
“It means a lot as it is my first European trophy with United and after what happened … it is nice to bring a trophy back for Manchester,” Mata told reporters. “It has been a really difficult week in the city of Manchester and we are happy to win for all the people that have suffered. We have won a trophy the club has never won, so we are really happy.”
Pogba, who moved to Manchester aged 16 to join United and returned last year from Juventus for a world record ￡89 million (US$115 million) fee, added: “We know things like this are very sad all over the world. We had to focus. Manchester — we won for them. We played for England, we played for Manchester and we played for them — the people who died.”
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