Utaka aiming to slay Milan - again!
John Utaka has already brought AC Milan to their knees once. Now he's bidding for a memorable double.
The Nigeria winger earned instant cult status for Lens when he crashed home the match-winner against the European giants six years ago.
Back in October, 2002, he swooped in the 49th minute of the Champions League group encounter to clinch a 2-1 triumph for the French outfit.
Watch Utaka's AC Milan winner
Incredibly, he had been in Europe for only three months having joined that summer from Al-Sadd in Qatar.
It was a Lens side who also consisted of current Fratton Park team-mate Papa Bouba Diop and Wigan's Antoine Sibierski.
That was a season which saw Utaka also net against Bayern Munich and appear against Deportivo as his stock continued to rise.
Nowadays the 26-year-old resides on the south coast and is pushing to retain his place up front alongside Peter Crouch in the absence of Jermain Defoe on Thursday.
And he's hoping for more Milan joy.
He said: 'I am very, very excited because it's another drama to enjoy.
'Scoring against AC Milan all those years ago was a dream for me. I had just come to Europe so to score the winner was good, good memories.
'It was a Champions League game and they had people like Pirlo, Shevchenko, Maldini and Costacurta. Abbiati was the goalkeeper and Gattuso was also there.
'They were all very well-known players and had already beaten us 2-1 at the San Siro, it was going to be a tough game.
'I remember the score was level, Thomas Helveg tried to dribble in the box and I challenged him.
'I managed to take the ball from him and then scored past Abbiati. It was a fantastic moment for me.
'I think for most guys, games like this are an opportunity for them to establish themselves in Europe as well as the home league.
'You cannot help but be thrilled by any European game, not just AC Milan.
'You are exposed to internationals, more difficult games, and it's a totally different challenge.
'It excites me very, very much.'
Utaka's first and only European start so far for the Blues came in the Fratton Park clash with Vitoria Guimaraes.
A hamstring injury picked up in training kept him out of the memorable return leg when Crouch struck twice in extra-time to claim a famous victory.
That result paved the way for the group stages Pompey currently find themselves in.
And like the majority of Blues fans, Utaka spent that entire nerve-wracking 120 minutes watching at home on the television.
He added: 'I stayed behind to receive treatment for my injury so watched the game on television. It was like "whoaa" at the beginning of that match but at the end of the day we won the game and got us through.
'It's strange because you want to be part of something great like that but for one reason or another you are forced to watch it from the sidelines.
'When I was watching the FA Cup semi-finals it was the same – I wanted
to play.
'You always want to be part of the big games.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Thursday 24 May 2012
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