Winning the Europa League Conference, the youngest of European cups, would be like winning “the Champions League” for Fiorentina, assures AFP French striker Jonathan Ikoné, 25, before the C4 final against West Ham on Wednesday at Prague.
Fiorentina have not won a title for 22 years (Italian Cup in 2001). Even if the Europa League Conference is the smallest of European cups, is it a trophy that matters to you?
“A trophy is a trophy. If we win it, we will be as happy as if we had won the Champions League. And if we win it, we can also go to the Europa League (next season, editor’s note). You have to tell yourself that, and approach it as if it were the greatest of trophies. The season was very good, since we reached two finals. We lost the first (Italian Cup against Inter Milan, 1-2), but we can still finish in style. You have to know how to move on, give yourself the means to play better, to win this time. West Ham is an English team, solid, difficult to maneuver. There will be a lot of commitment, it’s up to us to respond.”
Does this end of the season validate the choice to have come to Italy in January 2022 to work in particular with Vincenzo Italiano, a coach who is being talked about more and more?
“He is a coach who really loves football, who observes and knows how to maneuver a team. He is open to a lot of things, he is a very great coach, someone who trains me very well. He obviously likes that we respect the tactics, but afterwards, with the ball, he leaves us a certain freedom. (…) This may validate my choice today in people’s minds, but in my mind it was a choice made from the start, otherwise I would not have come. In Serie A, it’s more tactical. They use video a lot to study opponents. I work in different positions. The coach knows how he needs to use me, and that’s fine with me, I do what he asks of me. It’s also a physical championship, I think it works more here than in France.
Your fourth and last selection with the Blues dates from October 2019. Can this final be an opportunity to show you and come back to the mind of coach Didier Deschamps?
“I count on every weekend for that, every weekend is important, although of course this game is maybe more important because it is a final. I hope to give myself the means to make a big match, and then we will see. For the moment, I am doing things with my club, and we will see after for the selection.
