Van Hooijdonk headed the opening goal

Inter coach Hector Cuper made seven changes from the first leg but did not field the club's top-scorer Christian Vieri, and started with strikers Ronaldo and Nicola Ventola.

And it was Ventola who fought to the very end, only to produce a collective sigh of relief among the home fans after firing wide during a breakaway in the nerve-wracking final seconds.

"At the end of the match we were tired and could not hold the ball in the team, that gave Inter the chance to come back," Van Hooijdonk said.

"But we have done something fantastic."

Losing coach Cuper insisted his side were the better team over the two legs and said they could be proud of how they played.

Meanwhile the Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk was relieved with the outcome.

"After Inter scored their first goal I was worried that it could go wrong after all," he said.

Feyenoord last won the UEFA Cup in 1974 when they beat England's Tottenham Hotspur over two legs.

Feyenoord: Zoetebier, Gyan, van Wonderen, Paauwe, Aros, Kalou, Bosvelt, Emerton, van Persie, Tomasson, van Hooijdonk. Subs: Timmer, Leonardo, Elmander, Korneev, Dos Santos, Collen, Sprockel.

Inter Milan: Toldo, Ferraro, Di Biagio, Materazzi, Javier Zanetti, Seedorf, Cristiano Zanetti, Emre, Dalmat, Ventola, Ronaldo. Subs: Moreau, Kallon, Sergio Conceicao, Guglielminpietro, Recoba, Vieri, Okan.

Referee: Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto (Malaga)