Spurs vs Man Utd (WFA Cup) | Robert’s preview ahead of historic Women's FA Cup Final
Fri 10 May 2024, 15:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Sitting down in his last interview with us ahead of our historic Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final, Robert Vilahamn, understandably, was visibly excited when previewing the game and emphasised on one word – proud.
A trip to Wembley Stadium awaits on Sunday afternoon (2.30pm UK) for our first-ever major final as we face Manchester United in the showpiece event, with both sides looking to create history by lifting the trophy for the first time.
It has been a journey of late drama, scoring twice in injury time to keep our dreams alive, to penalty shootout heroics and, as each game passed, Robert started to believe more and more.
“You can feel that something is going on, but there’s a lot of good feelings,” Robert told SPURSPLAY.
“I’m very much looking forward to this game and you can tell the squad this have been brilliant as they have trained so well, everybody is looking forward to it.
“You always believe in something and I knew if we were going to win a trophy then the league title would be the most difficult, the FA Cup would be very hard to get but, in the first few runs after we came back in the games, we saw that it was one more step and then I started to dream a little bit more and, hopefully now, when we are at the final, we can go all the way.”
The group of players have shown character throughout our journey in the competition, coming from behind in three of the four games so far, and Robert feels that mentality could help us under the arch on Sunday.
“Everything we work on every day is to stay present, everything we do is to make sure we have control over our performances… we want to make sure we stay where we are and stick with the plan,” he added.
“This year has been brilliant, I think, it’s nine games where we went down early and we came back to get a draw or a win and that shows how good the players can handle to be present during the games.
“That is a big step as I can develop them to play better football or better technically, but we also need to develop them to make sure they can handle the pressure on the big stage and that’s one of main things I’m proud of, how they handle the setbacks, and that’s why I think we will handle the game in a good way."
The squad and staff members visited the national stadium as part of preparations in the weeks leading to the final and Robert, who stepped onto the pitch to take in his surroundings, admitted it will be a ‘proud’ moment to be there this weekend.
“I remember as a kid, that stadium was biggest one I knew and so it was my dream to get there one day,” he said.
“It was the first time I was on the grass and looking up there, realising I’m 41 now and probably started dreaming when I was around 10, so 31 years of hard work and now we are going to be there, I’m going to be there, and that makes me proud.”
