Alex Neil told Sunderland's players to seize their moment in the play-off final to become heroes - just as footballing greats such as Marco van Basten and Diego Maradona seized their moments on the biggest stage of all. Dutchman Van Basten is remembered for his stunning volley in the Euro 88 final against the Soviet Union, while Maradona's moment came in the 1986 World Cup with his brilliant individual goal in the semi-final against England - and his infamous 'hand of God' goal in the same game - en route to Argentina lifting the trophy.
The League One play-off final may seem a world away from those top-level international tournaments, but for the Sunderland players it was still a chance to write their name into the club's history. Neil revealed that his team-talk going into the game against Wycombe centred on telling his players that this was their moment, and they could become the side that draws a line under the club's history of failure in the play-offs, and gives fans a chance to celebrate in the stands at Wembley for the first time since their famous FA Cup triumph in 1973.
And the players delivered, securing a 2-0 win over the Chairboys to secure promotion to the Championship and end the club's four-year stay in League One. "The team talk was about moments," said Neil.
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"Moments in your life, moments in your career. Because you can have all the money in the world, you can play at high levels, you can do this or do that, but if you think about key players over the course of history - [Marco] van Basten, you think of his goal, [Diego] Maradona, you think of his brilliant goal or maybe the one he flicks over [Peter] Shilton with his arm - it's moments in time that are the most important thing, I think.
"What I said to the lads before the game was 'this is your moment in time - you can be a hero today and nobody can ever take that away from you'. So for Sunderland fans, this group, that team, the individuals, will be remembered, and rightly so. I'm so, so pleased for them that that is the case."
Elliot Embleton scored the opening goal in the 12th minute, with Ross Stewart scoring the second ten minutes from time, sparking mass celebrations amongst the 46,500 fans who had travelled from the North East.
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