Anichebe: Kharkiv Goal Gave Me Belief

[Louis]

It was approaching 5.30am yesterday when a planeload of Everton fans returning from watching their side's Uefa Cup win against Metalist Kharkiv in Ukraine trudged, wearily, through Liverpool airport. Passing baggage reclaim, they bumped into David Moyes's players who were waiting patiently for their luggage.

 

Those fans who stopped to chat tended to single out Victor Anichebe for special attention. Invariably smiling broadly, the 19-year-old Nigerian was happy to accept their compliments and deservedly so. Moyes's decision to introduce Anichebe early in the second half clearly changed a tie Everton were losing until the striker conjured a goal for James McFadden and then scored one himself.

 

That contribution left the Merseysiders 3-2 winners on the night, prevailing 4-3 on aggregate. Everton now enter the lucrative group stage - to be drawn on Tuesday - but, before then, Moyes must decide whether to start Anichebe at Newcastle tomorrow quite possibly in place of his record signing Ayegbeni Yakubu.

 

While Yakubu has struggled since arriving from Middlesbrough this summer, Anichebe has been largely restricted to understudy status but trusts things could be about to change. "Hopefully now I can kick on; this gives me so much belief," insisted the teenager.

 

Before his incisive intervention Everton seemed poised to revive memories of their humiliating first-round Uefa Cup exit against Dinamo Bucharest two years ago. "We were under a lot of pressure and it was tough throughout," Anichebe conceded. "Many people thought we would just walk all over them but Metalist are actually one of the best passing sides I have seen for a long time."

 

The win left Moyes buoyant about the club's future. "I expect David Moyes to be managing winning teams, playing good football in Europe," he said. "If you want to be a great leader you have to have big expectations and I want to be a great leader of a great football club."