Anton Ferdinand has expressed his thanks and appreciation
to all the Hammers fans who consoled him after his decisive penalty
miss in Saturday's FA Cup final shoot-out against
Liverpool.
The 21-year-old defender was left slumped on the Millennium Stadium turf in tears after his spot-kick was saved by Reds keeper Pepe Reina but, after a heroic performance during our 120-minute epic in Cardiff, there was no way the claret and blue faithful were going to level any kind of blame at the youngster.
"The fans have been quality to me all year," says Anton, "and they were even better after the game on Saturday, telling me not to worry about it, and that it's 50/50 when you take a penalty. I'd like to thank them for all their support and let them know that it meant a lot to me.
"For me personally, though, I was just gutted that we lost. After putting so much effort in, and not being behind in the game at any stage, it was an absolute choker to lose on penalties. And even worse after being so close to winning it in normal time.
"Stevie G was the only man who could do it. He's the only player I know who can hit a ball like that, under pressure, from so far out. In the end, it wasn't meant to be, but it was a great day for the fans, and we have got to take the positives from the occasion and hopefully go one better next year.
"A lot of the young lads like myself have gained great experience from Saturday and we are going to need that when we play in the UEFA Cup next season. We wanted to show what we could do on the big stage, and I think we proved that we can play in big games."
The 21-year-old defender was left slumped on the Millennium Stadium turf in tears after his spot-kick was saved by Reds keeper Pepe Reina but, after a heroic performance during our 120-minute epic in Cardiff, there was no way the claret and blue faithful were going to level any kind of blame at the youngster.
"The fans have been quality to me all year," says Anton, "and they were even better after the game on Saturday, telling me not to worry about it, and that it's 50/50 when you take a penalty. I'd like to thank them for all their support and let them know that it meant a lot to me.
"For me personally, though, I was just gutted that we lost. After putting so much effort in, and not being behind in the game at any stage, it was an absolute choker to lose on penalties. And even worse after being so close to winning it in normal time.
"Stevie G was the only man who could do it. He's the only player I know who can hit a ball like that, under pressure, from so far out. In the end, it wasn't meant to be, but it was a great day for the fans, and we have got to take the positives from the occasion and hopefully go one better next year.
"A lot of the young lads like myself have gained great experience from Saturday and we are going to need that when we play in the UEFA Cup next season. We wanted to show what we could do on the big stage, and I think we proved that we can play in big games."