Boateng hails McClaren influence

Middlesbrough FC midfielder George Boateng paid tribute to outgoing manager Steve McClaren after Wednesday's 4-0 UEFA Cup final defeat by Sevilla FC. McClaren leaves the club to become England coach in August, and Boateng said he will be missed by the northeast team.

'Ambition'
"People don't know this but I came to this club because of Steve McClaren," Boateng told uefa.com. "When I was leaving Aston Villa my first opinion was I didn't want to go to Middlesbrough, but then I spoke to Steve and he just caught me with his ambition, his desire. He was so eager for me to be at Middlesbrough that it made me realise there was something to do here. Therefore I am not only losing a manager but someone who has pushed me for the last four years. It has been fantastic with him. It is difficult to imagine coming to training next season without him."

'Nervous'
Middlesbrough fell behind to Luis Fabiano's 27th-minute header, but were in with a chance until a pair of late goals from man-of-the-match Enzo Maresca and one from Frédéric Kanouté put the tie out of reach. It was the opening goal, though, Boateng said, that made the difference. "You could see at the beginning we were very excited, just like them, and maybe a little nervous. They were giving the ball away, we were giving the ball away, but as soon as the goal was scored they found belief and relaxed. Sevilla deserved to win. You could see when it was 2-0, they were the better team. We had to gamble and go for it, but the decisive moment did not go our way."

Palop save
That came seven minutes into the second half when, with the score at 1-0, Mark Viduka found himself clear in front of goalkeeper Andrés Palop who saved the Australian's shot brilliantly with his legs. "The ball came across and I think Chris Riggott nodded it back down," Viduka said. "All I was thinking was trying to get it on target. I actually connected quite well but the keeper saved it."

'Difficult to take'
Middlesbrough captain Gareth Southgate felt his side simply hadn't played to their best. "Sevilla deserved to win," he said. "We let the fans down a bit but I think over the course of this cup run we've given them some nights they will never forget. This is very difficult to take because of the manner of the defeat and losing a final is very hard to take, but I think if you said to anybody five years ago, or even five months ago, that we would be in a European final, for a club of our stature it is a massive step. It was an unbelievable achievement to even get here." Sevilla, however, proved a step too far. "Other teams have sat back and allowed us to control the game, but they didn't and just kept pushing. We had to take chances and they exploited the gaps."

'Tremendous journey'
Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer played with a protective face mask after fracturing his cheekbone last month. "I didn't think I had a chance in hell to play," he said. "I thought my season was over. There's a lot of disappointment in the dressing room obviously, but you've got to take stock of what we've achieved. It's been a tremendous journey. The result was not a true reflection of the match. We were in it until the last 15 or 20 minutes. We had a fantastic opportunity but the goalkeeper made a very good save. That's how it goes in football."