Barcelona could fall for a Suker punch
by Bill Pierce
DAVOR SUKER’S latest goal poaching heroics and a glowing testimony to his predatory talent from manager Arsene Wenger may still not be enough to earn him a place in Arsenal’s starting line up for tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.
But the 31 year old Croat with the instinctive scoring touch is already convinced that the Gunners can topple the Catalan giants who fear him still after his prolific career in Spain with Seville and Real Madrid.
And the man who was top scorer at last year’s World Cup finals puts Arsenal among the top six contenders for Europe’s biggest team prize this season.
Suker struck twice in seven second half minutes to wipe out Everton 4 1 at Highbury on Saturday in a glorious display of attacking football by Wenger’s team that would have struck fear into the spies from Barcelona in the stand.
It brought his Arsenal tally to six in 10 games - and just five starts - since arriving as a cut price replacement for £23 million French rebel Nicolas Anelka. And although he faces competition from Nigerian ace Kanu and £10 million record signing Thierry Henry for a slot in tomorrow’s big Wembley showdown, Suker is almost certain to play some part against the Spanish giants whose fans screamed rabid abuse at him at the Nou Camp when he appeared as a substitute to set up Arsenal’s priceless equaliser in a 1 1 draw three weeks ago.
He recalls with relish the seven goals in 12 games he put past Barcelona during a four year spell in Spain but like all penalty box specialists, Suker sometimes misses as well. He spurned at least two golden chances to overturn a damaging 2 1 1 defeat at West Ham the last time Arsenal appeared in Premiership action, but his lethal left foot was back in full working order to demolish the Merseysiders - and restore high confidence for tomorrow’s mammoth Euro test.
Suker said: ‘‘many people in Spain thought Barcelona would have no problem with Arsenal when we played them in the Nou Camp but now they’ve seen what we can do. And it is my belief we are among the favourites to win the Champions League. There are six top contenders - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, AC Milan and Arsenal. And we are capable of beating all those teams.
‘‘I would love to get the goals to make it happen because goals are my life. I so badly wanted to get a third against Everton to take away the match ball but the goalkeeper made a great save and I finished with only two. But I am just so happy to be playing here and scoring goals and I think that with Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars providing so many chances I can get many more.’’
Wenger, who saw Arsenal climb back to third place in the Premiership with an awe inspiring reaction to going a goal down in 16 minutes to John Collins’ stunning free kick, said: ‘‘Suker is a penalty box player of super class and when we dominate games at Highbury it is great to know that he’s there to put away the chances we create. But he’s more than that. I would say, technically, he is a complete player and yet sometimes he can look one paced and is very left footed.
‘‘He will play some part against Barcelona but I don’t know yet if he will start.”
Everton looked good for only their second win in 13 Highbury visits when Collins’ crackerjack gave them an early lead and it took the event of a Lee Dixon equaliser to put the Gunners back on track five minutes before the interval. Dennis Bergkamp has now gone 12 games without scoring and it was typical of his current luck when his free kick strike - just as measured as the earlier one by Collins - came back off the bar, but Dixon was ideally placed to force home the rebound.
‘‘Dennis is desperate to score now and I think he will very soon,’’ said Wenger. ‘‘You could see how not scoring is affecting him when he was one on one with the goalkeeper in the second half and couldn’t finish.”
© The Examiner, 1999