Jose Mourinho had described Roma as "a giant club" lacking a trophy room to match the team's social dimension and passionate fan base.
Well, the Giallorossi claimed their first European title in more than six decades on Wednesday night to crown Mourinho's first season coaching in the Italian capital.
Nicolo Zaniolo scored in the first half, goalkeeper Rui Patricio made some big saves in the second and Roma beat Dutch club Feyenoord 1-0 in Albania's capital to win the inaugural edition of the third-tier Europa Conference League.
"Now we've got to celebrate -- a lot," Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini told Sky Sport Italia.
"But then we've got to keep going. A real team wins then comes back even stronger than before."
It's Roma's first European trophy since winning the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup -- a tournament considered to be the precursor to the UEFA Cup and Europa League. It's also the first title of any kind for Roma since winning the 2008 Italian Cup.
"One thing I said when I came here was I was going to help the team get to the final and one day I want to win a trophy. In my first season I have achieved that," former Chelsea striker and England international Tammy Abraham told BT Sport.
Besides the few thousand Roma spectators inside the small National Arena in Tirana, some 50,000 fans watched the game on giant screens at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
The goal started with a ball over the top from centre-back Gianluca Mancini that Zaniolo controlled with his chest and pushed it past onrushing goalkeeper Justin Bijlow with the tip of his boot.
An attacking midfielder, Zaniolo produced five goals and three assists in 10 Conference League games.
The 22-year-old has often been labelled as Italy's most talented young player. But he's been held back by two serious knee injuries, one of which kept him out for all of last season and prevented him from taking part in the Azzurri's run to the European Championship title.
Feyenoord came out energised after the break and hit the post twice, first with a close-range effort from Gernot Trauner then with a long-range blast from Tyrell Malacia.
But it was a typical Mourinho match: take an early lead then defend, defend, defend.
"We know that when we take the lead we're great at defending," defender Gianluca Mancini said.
"In matches like these you've got to defend until the last second."
Mourinho extended his perfect record in European finals. He won the 2003 UEFA Cup and 2004 Champions League finals with FC Porto, the 2010 Champions League final with Inter Milan, and the 2017 Europa League final with Manchester United.
Roma had lost their two previous continental finals, defeated by domestic rivals Inter in the 1991 UEFA Cup and dropping a penalty shootout to Liverpool in the 1984 European Cup final in their home stadium.
With PA and Reuters.
Australian Associated Press
