Michail Antonio is ready to “come alive” again and be West Ham ’s European hero in the biggest game of his life.
The Hammers face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in Prague next Wednesday with West Ham dreaming of glory. Antonio is already West Ham’s all-time leading scorer in European football with nine goals but the striker says he got used to big pressure moments during trial matches at non-league level when his whole future was on the line.
Hammers striker Antonio, 33, has been on a remarkable journey from non-league with Tooting & Mitcham to becoming just 90 minutes away from writing his name into West Ham folklore. Antonio said: “It’s massive.
“We’ve not been in a European final for 47 years. I’ve won a JPT [Football League Trophy] final, so this is massive for me. It’s probably the biggest thing I’ve been involved in, in my life.
“Most people want to retire with some type of accolades and this is an opportunity for me to have those accolades. But it’s not just for me, it’s for everyone. Like you said, they finished runners-up in 1976; we want to win it.
“Obviously, playing semi-finals or when we’re 1-0 down or in relegation scraps – these are the times that you notice that I come alive, because those are the games where I’m used to having that pressure.
“But coming from non-league, I constantly had to go on trials, and those are the things that kind of adapted me to the pressure.”
Antonio is now West Ham’s all-time record scorer in the Premier League with 61 goals - he overtook Paolo Di Canio two years ago - and his aim every year is to set new targets. He said: “Honestly, I don’t really see pressure from scoring goals, I had more pressure of beating it (the record).
“When I heard that I got close to it, I was like ‘Now, I have to beat it’. But, now, obviously, I’m at the top, and I want to score more goals to make it more difficult for someone to catch me.
“Now I’ve achieved it, I’m just buzzing that I’ve achieved it. But my goal is to always make sure that I do better each year, so me doing better each year means I get more goals each year and makes it harder for the next person to catch me. But I like pressure when it’s ‘big pressure.’”
Antonio could become the competition’s top scorer this season as he is just one behind Fiorentina’s Arthur Cabral and FC Basel’s Zeki Amdouni. He added: “Scoring goals has always been a goal [for me]; as a striker, you’re always meant to be scoring goals.
“But I just want to be a part of it, I always want to contribute in any way that I can through either goals or assists, but obviously, [scoring] goals is the main mission for me, and that’s one thing I definitely want to achieve. And obviously, in terms of goals so far, I’m just one behind the leader, so I’m going for that top goalscoring record.”
