Source: Telegraph
Fulham v Atletico Madrid: Zoltan Gera eager to gain Europa League honours for Fulham
Fulham's captivating run to the Europa League final has been about the collective. Roy Hodgson has assembled 11 individuals and through intense coaching, coaxed them into thinking as one. [LNB]Yet as this machine has ground its way impressively round Europe, one part has been outstanding: Zoltan Gera. In the 13 games it has taken to get to Wednesday's meeting with Atlético Madrid, the Hungary forward has scored six goals, including two in the famous win over Juventus and the goal that took them to Hamburg 10 days ago. [LNB] Related ArticlesDuff using altitude chamberPremier League snub FulhamDuff injury concern for Europa League finalFerguson: Hodgson should be manager of yearFulham emulate Euro starsSport on television"I enjoy playing against foreign teams, I enjoy playing in Europe," he said. "Yes, I've scored a few important goals but you need the whole team. Maybe European football is a bit easier than the Premier League, I have more time on the ball. It's not as tight as in the Premier League."[LNB]Gera's guile will be essential if Fulham are to win the first major trophy in their history in the Nordbank Arena, the idea of which has Gera bursting with enthusiasm. [LNB]"This is a fantastic time to play for Fulham," he said. "Last season we got the best position for Fulham in the Premier League and this season we have got into a European final. At the moment I can't really imagine what we have done. [LNB]"I think in a few years' time I will look back and then realise what we have done. This is the best achievement of my career."[LNB]For all his heroics, he remains something of an enigmatic figure. Zolly, as he is known down at the Motspur Park training ground, is quite a strange man. [LNB]His bizarre use of the English language and his deliberate buffoonery have his team-mates in stitches. [LNB]His former team-mate Jimmy Bullard describes him as a "proper oddball and a very weird kid" who has "the weirdest banter of anyone I've ever come across". And that's coming from Bullard, who's mad as a bag of snakes. [LNB]"I like to have a bit of fun," he said. "I like to speak in the dressing room. I just want to have happy people around me. So if I see a few players that are down I try to make them laugh. My English isn't perfect so when I try to speak everyone finds it funny."[LNB]Gera's charisma is at work. As part of the Premier League's Places for Players scheme, he is down at the club's training ground to help promote Fulham's donation of £20,000 to Sports Action Zone charity. [LNB]The money is going towards building floodlights at the Lilian Baylis Community Hub in Lambeth, plagued by gang violence and one of London's most deprived boroughs. [LNB]The floodlights will give thousands more kids the chance to play and coach football in the evening rather than be out on the streets. It says everything about Fulham as a club that, despite having three games in a week on top of all the work of preparing for a major European final that they are taking the time to honour their commitment, as well as run a training session for local schoolchildren. [LNB]Gera does not need to be told about the risks teenagers are exposed to on the streets it nearly cost him his career. From the age of 11, growing up in the Hungarian town of Pecs, he was in trouble, smoking and drinking and joining a local gang. [LNB]His parents' divorce sent him spiralling; he began using drugs on top of his drinking and started hanging out in gaming rooms. With his health deteriorating and football far from his thoughts, his father introduced Gera to a local church and his ensuing faith returned a structure to his life. [LNB]"Had I not found God, I would probably be a good-for-nothing drug-addict, or even worse, dead," he has written. Trying to get back to playing was a real effort and few thought he would recover enough to turn professional. [LNB]"I looked like a skeleton. I remember that I often had to stop training, because I had pain in my joints. And it took time for the pain to go away..."[LNB]Having come so close to losing everything, Gera was possessed with a determination to succeed. He worked his way up to playing for Hungary's top club, Ferencváros, captained his national side and got a move to England with West Bromwich Albion. [LNB]He moved to Fulham on a free transfer two seasons ago and, having just turned 31, is playing the best football of his career. [LNB]Much of this is down to Hodgson, who Gera describes as a "very, very clever" coach. The Fulham manager has moved Gera to playing in a free role behind the striker.[LNB] "I love this position, just behind Bobby Zamora," he said. "It's very good for me but I need to work hard because I need to get back to defend. I enjoy it I get a lot of the ball, lots of touches, I get chances, I can score goals." [LNB]As Atlético may discover to their disadvantage. [LNB]
