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Press article:
Solano's Euro Dream - 13/08/2002
Nolberto Solano last night revealed his determination to realise a
four-year dream and represent Newcastle in the `World Cup of club
football'. The United squad touched down in Bosnia-Herzegovina yesterday to be
greeted by a handful of local fans who fully expect Zeljeznicar of
Sarajevo to be overwhelmed by their famous Premiership opponents.
And an impassioned Solano is in no mood to disappoint a capacity crowd
at the Kosovo Stadium tomorrow evening, with Champions League
qualification just two games away.
"For me this match is as important as a World Cup qualifier and, now
that I don't play for Peru, the Champions League is my one chance to
play against the best in the world," explained the Magpies'
right-sided midfielder. "As a player I had to sit through the World Cup and wonder what it must be like to play on that stage. Now I am only two games away from
the most important club competition there is and it means more than words can say. "The Champions League is the World Cup of club football and ever since
I signed for Newcastle it has been my dream to represent United at
that level. I have talked about it for the last four years and now
it's nearly here. "Two or three years ago it was very hard to break into the top four
but now the club is better prepared, with top players and our time has
come."
Solano feels Newcastle should be experienced enough to cope with the
pressure of expectation going into the club's biggest game for several
seasons and accepts that United are firm favourites to progress. With a guaranteed £15m waiting for those clubs which qualify for the Group Stages of the Champions League there is no doubt that anything less than an aggregate victory will be a major disappointment on Tyneside. Solano agrees but he added: "As a team we're taking nothing for granted. "In football you never know, but what we do know is that we have given ourselves a great chance to qualify for the Champions League. "We are not about to let that opportunity slip through our hands. "We'll be very disappointed if we don't qualify because we only need to win two more games after contesting 38 league games last season to get here. "Maybe if we were playing Inter Milan or Lazio then the tables would be turned and nobody would expect us to win.
"We are favourites but we still have a job to do."
Solano insists that a share of the spoils in Sarajevo will not be a
disaster, but the former Boca Juniors playmaker does not anticipate
anything less than a draw.
"We have to try to come away with a draw at the very least," added the
former Peruvian national team skipper.
The Newcastle Journal
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