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The Hammers go into the away leg of their Europa League semi-final at Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 down but with high hopes of overturning the deficit |
David Moyes is hoping it is finally his turn to win a trophy at the climax of West Hamโs march through Europe โ and that his father will be there to see it.
The Hammers go into the away leg of their Europa League semi-final at Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 down but with high hopes of overturning that deficit and reaching the final in Seville in a fortnight.
Moyesโ father David snr, 86, has been there at every step of the remarkable journey which saw West Ham top a difficult group before knocking out Sevilla and Lyon.
A managerial career that began with Preston 24 years ago is now hitting the heights, and beyond, of Moyesโ successful spell with Everton, and the Scot wants to cap it with a major European trophy โ West Hamโs first in 57 years.
Yet on the eve of arguably the biggest match of his career, Moyes said: โYou know as a manager there are other big things, like to win a game at Preston North End to get to a play-off final.
โThere are lots of games throughout your career, so when you get to a big one you think โitโs bigโ. But thereโs lots of big games, lots of ups and downs.
โItโs hard to be a winner all the time because everyone is fighting for that prize. But when you get this close you are thinking โis this my turn, my chance?โ I hope this is my turn.
โMy dadโs coming tomorrow, and I hope my son takes me to matches when Iโm 86. My brotherโs bringing my dad and itโs great he can see us at this stage. I hope we give him a night to remember.
โIf he saw us win tomorrow it would be special, and even better if it was the final. He wants it to be and so do I.
โThe biggest thing is he enjoys it, and the biggest thing for me is we get to the final.โ
The turnaround at West Ham from relegation battlers to European challengers has been mirrored by the rise of forward Jarrod Bowen.
Nicknamed โArjen Bowenโ by West Ham fans, the 25-year-old has gone from playing in the Championship with Hull two years ago to the verge of an England call-up.
โItโs about taking each year as it comes,โ said Bowen. โItโs been a strange one from eight years ago, when I first played for Hereford, and now a Europa League semi-final.
โI wouldnโt have thought it was going to go this way but Iโm very grateful.โ
West Ham can welcome back Craig Dawson from suspension while fellow defenders Issa Diop and Ben Johnson are fit.
Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner insists his side will not attempt to sit on their slender lead as they bid to book a date with either fellow Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig or Rangers.
โWe expect an opponent who will try everything to get into the final,โ he said.
โBut our approach is clear. We play for victory with our fans behind us from the very first second, and we want to challenge the opposing defence.
โOur route is to go forward and keep the opponent permanently occupied. We need an even better performance than in the first leg.โ