West Ham United right-back Vladimir Coufal is relishing a Prague homecoming in Wednesday night’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina.
Coufal and club and country teammate Tomas Soucek will be part of the Hammers side who will be playing in the club’s first major European final since 1976 inside the Fortuna Arena, where the duo called home prior to joining West Ham.
For Soucek, he came through Slavia Prague’s academy having first joined the club’s youth team as a ten-year-old, while Coufal played 88 times for Slavia’s first team, as well as representing the Czech Republic there on a number of occasions.
As soon as West Ham discovered that should they reach the final of the Europa Conference League, it would be in Prague, for Coufal and Soucek, it became their mission to ensure that the Hammers reached the final in what will be an emotional return for the duo.
While Coufal knows that the Hammers have a tough game on their hands, he has a chance to make his best-ever memories at the ground, one where he has already recorded a win over England and played against Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.
“It's going to be a very special game and a very special night, playing in my home stadium where I know every corner,” said Coufal.
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“Hopefully it'll be an advantage for me and Tom, and all the guys. We spoke about the stadium already and I hope to add one more win there. We're playing in the national team there and I dreamed about taking the whole West Ham team to Prague but I didn't know it would be a final. Hopefully, it'll be good memories from Prague.
“With the national team, we beat England in this stadium, so a perfect memory. Also, we were promoted to the Champions League in this stadium and played Barcelona, Dortmund and Inter Milan in this stadium. I won three Czech titles in the stadium and also Czech Cups. So lots of good memories. But I hope the most important one is coming.
“If we win, 100 buckets [of Czech beer] is not enough. But it's very early to speak about celebrations.”
Unsurprisingly, given it is a home return for Coufal, he had been inundated with ticket requests for the match, having to turn down a number of people asking him for seats. Coufal has taken his maximum allocation of 35 tickets and has prioritised his close family and the people most important to him.
Among those will be Coufal’s kids Nicholas (seven) and Natalie (two-and-a-half), the latter of which has never seen Coufal win a trophy, with his last being prior to his West Ham move.
West Ham’s right-back says that just the thought of having a photo with her and the trophy has already made him emotional.
“She wasn't born when we were winning with Slavia so for her to have a photo with the trophy and be there with me, I almost have tears in my eyes when I imagine this so I hope it's going to happen,” Coufal explained.
“I don't think she's able to understand this, it's too early, but she really likes football. She likes to be with me at the London Stadium and she's always saying 'daddy goal'. She's looking forward to the final like every game and hopefully, we can bring the trophy home.
“I got 35 tickets, which is the most I could. I had to refuse a lot of requests but the most important people are there. I can feel myself more confident in this stadium. I know every corner and it's going to be a good feeling for me.”
While the season has ended in a potential major European trophy for the Hammers, just months ago, there was almost a scenario where Coufal left the club five months ago to join German side Bayer Leverkusen.
During March’s international break, Coufal told Czech media outlets that he had even discussed a move with the Bundesliga outfit, but after Hammers boss David Moyes told him he had made a mistake by not playing him more, Coufal, opted to stay and in the second half of the season, has been West Ham’s first choice right-back, starting 17 of the last 23 games of the Premier League season, with five of the six he did not being due to injury.
Speaking out on his exit, Coufal admits that while he never wanted to leave West Ham, he did want to know he had lost out on minutes prior to the World Cup break, having started just once in the eight league matches leading up to the competition.
“It was a tough time for me because everyone wants to be on the pitch and I'm no exception,” Coufal told football.london . “If I feel I'm not needed, I wanted to move. But it wasn't at the stage I should move. I spoke to the manager early after the break and he told me some stuff, it was right for me so I decided not to push for a move and I think it was a great decision. I had a really good second part of the season, except for my injuries. Hopefully, the season will end up with a trophy.
“My intention wasn't to leave the club, I just want to be on the pitch. I love to be here, I love to play at the London Stadium. When you put it like this, it was a great decision to stay here at the club and to lift the trophy could be perfect for me, for all of West Ham. Now we can imagine how it's going to be when we win.
“I always said my intention wasn't to leave the club, I just wanted to know why I'm not on the pitch. We spoke with the gaffer and it was the right decision for me. It's going to be like this when you have questions, someone has to respond to it. That's happened and I'm happy.”
While Coufal did opt to stay at West Ham, one player who many expect to leave after Prague’s showpiece is captain Declan Rice, with many expecting the game to be his 245th and final for the club, amid transfer links with Arsenal, Bayern Munich and others.
Recently, Coufal said that Rice’s performances have “saved” West Ham’s season, with the Premier League campaign being largely spent attempting to steer clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone.
Coufal said that while he did not know if Rice was certain to leave the club this summer, he did give him a glowing reference and knows that the English international would do whatever he could to end Wednesday night with a trophy in his hands.
“Everyone can say how good he is. He always takes responsibility to take the ball,” Coufal explained. “I'm not saying he did everything alone but he was our main leader, and he took responsibility for everything. For the press, for the media. It's difficult because he's still a young player but I think he saved our season mainly with how he played. When he plays like he can, everyone has more confidence.
“Straight away when I came to West Ham. You can see it every session, this guy has everything. Left, right foot, passing, speed, he's really quick on his feet, dribbling. He's on the way to becoming the best No.6 or defending midfielder in the world.
“I don't know if this is true, you have to ask Dec. If it will be his last game, of course, he and also us will do everything for him and for us to lift the trophy.”
In the build-up to the game, both left-back Emerson and striker Danny Ings have suggested that they would add to their collection of tattoos if West Ham were to come out on top against their Italian opponents in the Czech capital. However, Coufal has said he will not be following their plans.
Speaking out on why, Coufal said that he had turned down his wife’s previous request to get a tattoo of their kids on him, joking that she would not be best pleased if he went to get commemorative ink, should West Ham win.
“No. I don't want to argue with my wife because my wife asked me to get a tattoo of the kids and I said no,” Coufal admitted.
“So I don't know how she'd handle it if I came home with a European trophy on me! I'm not even thinking about it.”
For Coufal and co, they are attempting to enter West Ham history, with the club only winning a major European trophy once previously in 1965 when the Hammers won the European Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley, with Bobby Moore lifting the trophy.
Asked about the potential to join that list of legends, including 1966 World Cup winners Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, Coufal said that it would be a privilege to emulate the successes of 58 years ago, saying that a trophy win in Prague would feel like his greatest achievement to date.
“It's good to hear that we can be West Ham legends or written in West Ham history. It's something really amazing but still have one problem: we have to win,” Coufal said. “It's amazing names, a big history and hopefully we'll be next.
“I don't know how to describe this feeling to be honest. We cannot imagine how it's going to be to lift the trophy, the celebrations, what it's going to be like. We'll be like legends so it'll be a dream for everyone.
“Yes, for sure. If we win this trophy it's going to be top in my career.”
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