Comentariu aparținând redacției de sport a Canalului ITV 4 care a transmis în direct, joi seara, meciul de fotbal dintre echipele Middlesbrough și Steaua București în returul semifinalelor Cupei UEFA, încheiat cu eliminarea formației românești.
Stewart Downing paid tribute to Middlesbrough after they repeated their quarter-final heroics to overcome a three-goal deficit to book their place in the UEFA Cup final with victory over Steaua Bucharest.
As in the previous round Massimo Maccarone scored an 89th-minute winner to give Boro a 4-3 aggregate lead after the visitors took an early two-goal lead on the night.
A jubilant Downing told ITV4: "We've done it once, we'll do it again, we like to do it the hard way.
"It was against a good team as well but we deserved it. We were brilliant on the night."
Striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink joined in the celebrations, declaring: "Massimo, I love him until I die.
"It's unbelievable. We are in the final and we have to go for it in the final.
"We had to do it the hard way."
Match-winner Maccarone said: "I can't believe it. It is incredible."
Manager Steve McClaren admitted he was not too sure how Middlesbrough had pulled off another remarkable comeback.
"I haven't got a clue. Character, attitude. I said that against Basle and they have done it again."
"I said lightning couldn't strike twice in the same place and it has done tonight.
"Let's go one step further and win the final."
Boro chairman Steve Gibson echoed those sentiments, adding he hoped they and Arsenal - who are in the Champions League final - could complete an English clean sweep in Europe.
"We are absolutely speechless. If you wrote a script you wouldn't believe it.
"The players were magnificent. They never lost any heart and kept going.
"We are very proud to represent the country. If us and Arsenal can do the double it would be great."
George Boateng described the result as "unbelievable" amid scenes of euphoria at the Riverside.
"It was just hard work in the second half. We had to find a way to win this game," he said.
The Holland midfielder admitted the players had little self-confidence after they went 2-0 down.
"After it went to 2-0 it was very difficult to climb the big mountain but when we came back and got the goal the belief started growing and in the last 15 minutes we could see they were tiring."
The 30-year-old paid tribute to the motivational skills of manager Steve McClaren, ironically on a day when his prospects of landing the England job appeared to have slipped away in favour of Luiz Felipe Scolari.
"He motivated all of us, he said we have nothing to lose, just go out and enjoy it," Boateng added.
