Michail Antonio says West Ham can win the Europa League
West Ham striker Michail Antonio has backed his side to go all the way in the Europa League and lift the trophy in Seville.
Speaking on The Footballer’s Football Podcast (21 April), the 32-year-old lauded his fellow teammates for knocking out Lyon to set up a semi-final against German side Eintracht Frankfurt.
And with the winner of that tie heading to the final in Spain, Antonio wants to set another historic chapter in the Iron’s proud history.
“Obviously it was a massive achievement, the first time in fourty-six years since West Ham have got to a (European) semi-final,” he said on the podcast.
“Since we beat Sevilla we’ve said we need to win it. Now we’ve got that step closer, two games away from a final, it’s just going to be unbelievable.”
Glory Awaits
The entirety of the West Ham squad has already become icons amongst Hammers faithful for this remarkable run, with David Moyes dubbed the ‘Moyesiah’ as he leads an improbable trophy charge.
Win the competition itself and Antonio and his teammates will have written themselves into club folklore.
Frankfurt will not make it easy for them though, shocking the footballing world when they dismantled Barcelona at the Nou Camp to race into a 3-0 lead, with the Catalan’s fightback to 3-2 not enough to secure their progression in the tie.
That run has seemed to knock the stuffing out of their Bundesliga campaign however, winless in five which has seen them sink down to 10th in the German table.
That makes European qualification through the league unlikely so they will be putting everything they have into this tie and West Ham have to be prepared.
With the Irons in a similar sort of position domestically it’s set up to be another fascinating encounter on this extraordinary journey.
In other West Ham news, the club are reportedly in a tussle with Newcastle to sign this in-demand striker.
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