Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed his satisfaction with his side's FA Cup final progress at the expense of Blackburn on Saturday, describing his players as a 'special group'. "I think there is not one Chelsea supporter who does not respect these players," Mourinho was quoted as saying by Chelsea's official site. The Blues needed an extra-time strike from Michael Ballack to claim a 2-1 win over a resilient Rovers side at Old Trafford. "In extra-time, we controlled the game well and the players are heroes, after Valencia's incredible 90 minutes, to play 120 minutes is superb," he added. Chelsea earned a hard fought 2-1 victory at Valencia last Tuesday to book their UEFA Champions League semi-final place, and they prepare to face West Ham on Wednesday in a must-win game in their Premiership title bid. "This is a special group but this is also a special country. In many countries, after this game the players would need one week off. We play a game in three days we must win. "The players either die or they get better and I think almost all of them become better. "This game was incredible propaganda for English football. To play his kind of game in mid-April is unbelievable."
Mourinho dished out praise for Blackburn. "But a lot of thoughts go to the opponent, to Mark Hughes, to the Blackburn players and to the Blackburn crowd. "They gave us a game. It was not a surprise to me, I have to say that, I was waiting for this, but the game was unbelievable," he said. Rovers manager Mark Hughes couldn't agree more with the Portuguese tactician. "Sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve and I felt we deserved to go through," Hughes told Sky Sports. Jason Roberts flicked in Morten Gamst Pedersen's Free Kick in the second half to hand Blackburn a deserved equalizer to Frank Lampard's first half strike. "In the second half I thought we made them look extremely ordinary and their keeper was outstanding. "We pushed an exceptional team that will quite possibly win the Champions League, we pushed them all the way. "We can take pride from that, but we are disappointed as well," he added.
