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BOATENG SPURRED ON BY SEMI SETBACK
By Daniel Spellman of Betting Zone
Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng will use the gnawing pain of FA Cup semi-final heartache as motivation in his quest for UEFA Cup glory on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old Dutchman will be on familiar territory in Eindhoven as he and his team-mates attempt to put the finishing touches to their remarkable European run against Sevilla.
Having seen a chance to lift the FA Cup wrenched from his grasp by West Ham last month, Boateng is not prepared to experience the bitter taste of defeat again.
"You cannot hide anymore, it's everything or nothing," he said.
"In a way, I feel we have achieved quite a lot this year.
"To get to the final is, on its own, a big, big achievement. But we have to win to say that we have succeeded as a team.
"I hate to fail, I really can't stand it. Against West Ham, we failed as a team, although we tried everything.
"I really hate that feeling. When we played against Stuttgart and we won at home, I saw their players' faces. They were crying and they were shattered. They couldn't believe it, they felt so disappointed.
"People think footballers are about cars, houses, nice clothes, watches, jewellery - but believe me, when it gets to stages like this, all those things don't matter to any of us.
"All that matters is you want to win, you want to be one of those to lift a cup up.
"You can see it in players' expressions when they lose. You hardly see players crying, but when you see players crying on the pitch, it's very emotional because it means a lot to everybody involved."
Boro's appearance in the final is little short of miraculous after breathtaking comebacks against Basle in the quarter-finals and Steaua Bucharest in the last four.
In the context of a Barclays Premiership season which has been disappointing - they finished in 14th place - their cup form has been astonishing.
Boateng's absence with an ankle ligament injury around the turn of the year coincided with a slump in form, but he sensed something special on his return.
"When I was injured, the team had a very difficult period," he said.
"But what surprised me and what was good was that when I came back, although the results were sometimes not good, the team pretty much fought together and went through a storm, gale-force winds, everything.
"That actually all happened during the European matches. You could see clearly that when we played in Europe, everybody was up for it, everybody was concentrated, everybody realised this was the only chance we might get to win something."
The game in Eindhoven could conceivably be Boateng's last in a Boro shirt with long-running contract talks yet to bear fruit despite a willingness on both sides to tie up his future.
However, the former Aston Villa enforcer insists that is not even in his thoughts.
"As it stands, we are still in talks," he said.
"If I'm really honest, it's at the back of my mind now because it's not my priority.
"We have plenty of time. We have been in talks for almost a year now. Every time, something big has come up on the agenda.
"It's the last thing on my mind. If I win the trophy, everything is fine; if we lose, we will see then, but now, it's not important.
"To win the cup is more important than sorting my future out for me because I want to enjoy this occasion and win it."
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