One West Ham player who always believed we would be heading into a Europa Conference Final this season was Kurt Zouma.
The central defender has not always been able to play a part in the season’s troubled campaign at league level or in Europe but has never lost his belief.
Even in pre-season the £30 million signing believed we were on our way to a great finale in Prague – now comes the small matter of winning.
Preparations have been well and truly underway for West Ham’s first European final since 1976, including a warm-weather training camp in Portugal at the start of last week for David Moyes’ men.
Zouma felt the benefits of a change of scenery, and the opportunity to relax and bond with his teammates came at the right time for the French defender.
Now, just one more game and more opponent stands in the team’s way. Italian outfit AC Fiorentina awaits the side on Wednesday, as does a shot to end a 43-year wait for major silverware at West Ham.
Zouma told whufc.com: “I definitely fully believed in this team’s ability to go all the way in this competition, from the very first day, especially after we got to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season. ”
“I still think we could have won that competition too, or at very least got to the final But you could feel this time has something very special about it.
