Boateng awaits Boro's big day

By Tom Rollett
 
These are heady times for Middlesbrough FC. Despite forming in 1876, their English League Cup victory in February was the club's first trophy. And, this week, the town gets its inaugural taste of European football when FC Baník Ostrava visit the Riverside Stadium in the UEFA Cup first round.

Teesside excitement
Netherlands midfield player George Boateng says the long-suffering fans of the Teesside club are thrilled at the prospect. "This is special," he told uefa.com. "You can feel the atmosphere in the area. The fans are so excited and everybody can't wait to see what's going to happen. They want to know how we are going to cope with new faces and teams we don't know. All these questions have been asked and will be answered shortly."
 
European experience
But while the club may be novices at this level, Boateng - a veteran of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup campaigns with Feyenoord and Aston Villa FC - points out that the same cannot be said of the players. "The majority of our players have been playing in Europe through their careers," he said. "There are only two who haven't played Champions League or European football before. There's a lot of experience in the team."
 
Team transformed
Indeed, the side is barely recognisable as the one that Boateng joined for €7m from Villa in the summer of 2002. Since then, manager Steve McClaren has turned the unfashionable club into an outfit bursting with international stars such as Gaizka Mendieta, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka.

McClaren's promise
"This is the best team that I've played in for Middlesbrough," said Boateng. "It's a shame some of the players have departed, but that's football. A few people criticised me for coming to Middlesbrough because of the team we were at the time. But the manager told me that he was going to build a side that would be playing European football in a few years. He's kept his word and it's nice to be part of it.

Fast friends
"In Hasselbaink and Viduka we've got the two goalscoring strikers that we've always lacked. Any team in the Premiership would like to have those two. People said to me they might not get along together but it's amazing how well they've hit it off. They like each other off the pitch and you can see that they really want each other to succeed. They get along great."

Clean sheet
Middlesbrough will obviously hope to travel to the Czech Republic in a fortnight with a win under their belts, although Boateng believes the most important thing is to keep a clean sheet at home. "Any win will be a good result," he said, "but the main thing is not to concede. I don't know much about them, but our Slovakian striker Szilard Nemeth said they are a very good side - they must be if they have played qualifiers for the Champions League. We know we'll be up for a very tough match.

Trophy hope
"There are a few cups we are playing in - the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup, the League Cup - we really want to bring a trophy home to keep hold of our winning ways," concluded Boateng. "Whether that will be in the UEFA Cup or not we will have to wait and see. These matches are a bridge for us - and we want to cross it and go into the group stage."
 
George Boateng's personal website is at www.icons.com