Knowledge is power for Kanouté

Sevilla FC striker Frédéric Kanouté says he has "known" that his team would win the UEFA Cup for almost two months.

Decisive victory
The French-born former Olympique Lyonnais, West Ham United FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC striker told uefa.com he has been convinced that Sevilla's name was on the trophy ever since they beat LOSC Lille Métropole 2-0 in the return leg in the Round of 16 having trailed 1-0 from the first leg. With five goals in the competition - two against 1. FSV Mainz 05, two more against Beşiktaş JK and one against Lille - Kanouté is Sevilla's second highest scorer behind Javier Saviola in the UEFA Cup this season, but concerns had been raised that he would miss tomorrow's UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven due to a troublesome calf injury.

Calf injury
The injury ruled him out of the second leg of the semi-final victory against FC Schalke 04, and there were plenty of question marks over Kanouté's fitness before he took the field at the weekend to play the last 20 minutes of the 2-0 Primera División win at Málaga CF. "I feel fine," said the Malian international. "Of course there's a risk of another setback, but this time I've carried out a better rehabilitation process and that's why I have taken longer to return to the team. I want to be sure I'm completely fit, although I don't think I'll be quite 100 per cent for the final."

'Very motivated'
However, as he was well aware, support from the crowd could easily help him to forget his injury against Middlesbrough FC. "I'm sure there will be a lot of people backing us, but in these type of matches we don't need much encouragement because we're already very motivated," he said. The absence of a major striker like Kanouté would have been a huge headache for any team on such a big occasion as the UEFA Cup final, but the 28-year-old's presence was all the more important to Juande Ramos's side given his experience in the Premiership.

Sevilla pace
"I've placed against Middlesbrough in England several times," said Kanouté, who holds a French passport as well as a Malian one. "Middlesbrough and Sevilla are very different teams. We might be a bit faster than them in attack but they're dangerous and have their own strengths." Kanouté has yet to win a major European trophy and will possibly never have a better chance than when he lines up in Eindhoven. He came to the club with an unpredictable reputation last summer, but should his assumptions for the final prove correct, he could soon be a club legend.