West Ham United captain Declan Rice admitted it meant ‘absolutely everything’ to lead them to victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final.
Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute goal secured a 2-1 win, after Giacomo Bonaventura had cancelled out Said Benrahma’s penalty midway through the second half.
And it allowed Rice to become only the third Hammers skipper to lift a major trophy, after club legends Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds.
“It means absolutely everything,” Rice told BT Sport.
“The lads have been so on it. We had a real belief. But I’m not only happy for us, the manager, but these fans and all the staff, so many of the.
“No-one knows the work they put in, the chefs, the player liaisons, everyone that does everything to make us perform.
“I’m just as happy for myself as I am for them, because they deserve it, I’m just so happy.”
The Hammers, having seen Rice fire an early chance wide of the left-hand post, had a let-off on the stroke of half-time when a header from Luka Jovic was ruled out by VAR.
And they took the lead just past the hour mark when Bowen chested down Vladimir Coufal’s quick throw and saw the ball brush the knuckles of Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi, who needed his head bandaged in the first half after being left with a cut from a plastic pint glass thrown from the crowd by a West Ham supporter.
Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande pointed to the penalty spot after consulting a pitchside monitor and Benrahma dispatched his penalty confidently.
But Bonaventura angled a drive inside the far post when Nicolas Gonzalez nodded down a cross from the left to level soon after.
Extra time was looming when Paqueta pounced in the centre circle to thread a pass into space for Bowen to chase and he kept his cool to clip it over the leg of Pietro Terracciano and into the net.
And Rice revealed his thoughts as his teammate bore down on the Fiorentina goal, adding: “When he ran through on goal, I said to myself, out loud, this is your time, and as soon as you see it hit the back of the net you don’t know what to do.
“I’m still in shock now, honestly. It’s incredible.
“We got here two hours before and it was full. The fans, look at them, this is what it means to us, to me, I absolutely love this club, they’ve made me one of their own, I can’t even describe what I feel when I talk about West Ham fans.
“Legends speak about it now, I’m experiencing it myself, what it’s really like to be a West Ham player. I’m just so happy.”
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