BANGERS & MATCH!

Coufal paid in sausages as teen hopeful

VLADIMIR COUFAL knows success with West Ham this season will taste far sweeter than the bangers and beer in which he was paid by SSK Bilovec.

The Czech Republic international was devastated when he was released by boyhood club Banik Ostrava in 2010 and was forced to rebuild his dreams of a career in football with amateur side Bilovec.

But all the pain and hard work was worth it because this week he and his West Ham team-mates face Chelsea today in a big Premier League clash and then Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday in the first leg of a Europa League semi-final.

He said: “At 16, 17, I played in the third-lowest division in Czech Republic.

“I played for sausages and beers – that’s what the guys played for, sausages and beers after the game.

“Banik destroyed my dream to be a professional footballer and sent me to play for this team with 40-year-old men who just liked to have a drink after work.

“It was unbelievable. Of course.

I was really determined when I was released by Banik Ostrava.

“Immediately, maybe a week after, I started to work really hard in the gym and start to go running a lot after school. I wanted to prove to them I would be able to play professional football.

“But it’s still inside of me, the feeling. When they gave me an offer to bring me back, I wouldn’t go. Inside I had feelings. They didn’t give me a proper chance just because I wasn’t tall enough for them, strong enough.

Slower

“But I was only a 15-year-old. Some people grow up slower but they didn’t give me a chance, so now when I’m here, it feels nice.”

Banik should have known Coufal would make it to the top given his family’s sporting pedigree.

His mother, Alena, represented Czechoslovakia in gymnastics at the 1988 Olympics, while his brother, Petr, and sister, Jana, were both successful figure skaters.

He added: “When you have a very successful mother, she was very demanding on me. Although mostly she looked after my two siblings because it was similar sports, figure skating and gymnastics, a lot of the attributes are similar. My father was demanding on me. It is not easy to grow up as my siblings were very

successful when they were young. My brother won an Olympic games for youngsters and my sister was many times Czech champion.

“I wasn’t so successful when I was a kid because I was released from my club and they said I will never play professional football because I was too small, too weak.

“Unfortunately my siblings had to finish their figure skating careers and I made it to West Ham, so it is a bit contrary now. They are happy and I am also happy.”

Coufal has been back for two games since his groin injury.

He said: “My injury was very complicated and I already had it at the Euros. I was taking medication. Now it is a good feeling to be enjoying football without pain.”