The traditional English club West Ham United goes into the duel with the Bundesliga soccer club Eintracht Frankfurt with a good deal of respect.
“Beating Barcelona in two games was an unbelievable performance and shows the qualities of Frankfurt,” said team manager David Moyes ahead of the semi-final first leg in the Europa League: “They are very good at running and have one or two players who can make the difference can make out.”
At home in London, however, his team can “keep up with any opponent,” explained the 59-year-old: “It’s good to be nervous. It makes you aware of the importance of the game, but you want the players to have confidence play and do a lot of things in the game naturally.”
The semifinals sounded “alright, but the final sounds even better,” added the veteran coach.
The players believe in the second European title after the Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in 1965.
“It will be difficult, we know that, because the other three teams in this situation will think the same thing. But we can do it,” said captain Mark Noble: “If we put what we can on the pitch, we will to win.”