Per Mertesacker never doubted Arsenal's ability to win the FA Cup final - even when they were two down.
Arsene Wenger's side were caught cold by Hull City at the start of Saturday's showpiece and trailed to goals from James Chester and Curtis Davies inside the first 10 minutes.
But Santi Cazorla's free-kick gave the Gunners hope and Laurent Koscielny equalised before Aaron Ramsey fired in an extra-time winner.
"Our character was vital and, as you could see, the team effort was massive"
"It's pretty hard [to describe my emotions]," Mertesacker told Arsenal Player. "It's a big relief, everyone is really exhausted but very happy. We tried to keep nice and calm and maybe later we will realise more what happened.
"I think I was always positive. I thought we could come back. They scored twice very early so there was always a big belief in each other that we could come back. It was vital that we kept going and everyone thought we were going to come back for sure.
"Our character was vital and, as you could see, the team effort was massive. We lost a few games and lost the Premier League… but we came back and responded well, we sealed fourth place and we came back this time [in the final]. That is something really special. The team are very proud of that."
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