Adebayor Has Appetite For Euro Fight

cchl8

Emmanuel Adebayor is "hungry" to end his Champions League heartache and fire Arsenal to European glory this season.
The Togo striker smashed a hat-trick against Blackburn on Saturday and will once again spearhead the Gunners attack as their Champions League campaign kicks off with a trip to Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine.
Adebayor - who netted 30 goals last season - has come a long way since arriving in north London from Monaco as a relative unknown during January 2006, and recently agreed a lucrative new deal with the Emirates Stadium club after a summer of speculation over a £35million move to AC Milan.
The powerful 24-year-old, though, has yet to taste success at the highest level, having watched from the bench as his old club were beaten 3-0 by Jose Mourinho's Porto in the 2004 Champions League final and then being cup-tied when Arsenal lost out to Barcelona in Paris two years later.
Adebayor is determined to make up for that bitter disappointment this time around.
"We have every chance to win the Champions League with Arsenal," he declared.
"I had the chance to be in the final with Monaco, but I was on the bench and I could see all these special things going on.
"Then with Arsenal, I could not play because I was cup-tied and in my head it was difficult - but now I have a chance to play so there is an argument for me to be more hungry than most of my team-mates.
"However, I am not the only one. Cesc [Fabregas] and Kolo [Toure] lost in the [2006] final as well and so all these players would like to win it in their career.
"These are the things that we are going to pin together as brothers and help each other on the pitch and off the pitch and try to achieve something this season."
Adebayor added: "I do not know whether we are going to win the Champions League or the Premier League - but we have to achieve something because we have the quality within the squad.
"We just have to believe in the squad and believe in ourselves to do it.
"I know if I have the chance to win something like the Champions League with a team like Arsenal I will be very happy and very glad."
Arsenal - who came through a qualifier against Steve McClaren's FC Twente to make the group stages - have recovered from the setback of defeat at Fulham to record three straight wins, netting 11 goals without reply.
Adebayor is happy to be back in form, finally getting his domestic account up and running.
"My confidence has always been high because I have had a few chances," he said.
"I know if I keep working hard for the team and we keep on playing the football for the team, you always have a chance to score.
"Those are the things that I always put in my head and it made the goals that went in on Saturday against Blackburn easy.
"For me, the most important thing is to work hard for the team and I think up until now I have been doing that quite well.
"I am very happy and for sure my confidence is higher than before."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains Group G will be no walk in the park for the Gunners, with Turkish giants Fenerbahce and former winners Porto also in the mix to qualify for the knockout stages.
While a win in the Stadion Valeriy Lobanovskyi would put them on course nicely, Arsenal do not have the best of records in the old Soviet bloc - losing on their last visit to Moscow, against CSKA two years ago, while also going down twice to the Ukrainians in 1998 and again in 2003.
Adebayor said: "A lot of people think it is going to be an easy one - but I do not.
"We know that playing in Ukraine is going to be very difficult, especially because their players are playing in front of their fans and will be doing everything to win the game.
"But we are Arsenal - we just have to believe in ourselves and, if we can, play our football.
"If we can stay patient, score the goals then, in the end, we will win the game. That is what we are going there for."