Marco Silva eyes FA Cup success with Fulham

By SABC Sport
1st March 2025

Fulham manager Marco Silva is determined to make his mark on the FA Cup as his side prepares for a crucial fifth-round clash against Manchester United on Sunday.

The 47-year-old, who has been in charge of Fulham for four years, grew up watching the historic competition alongside his father, Joachim, and now dreams of lifting the trophy himself.

A victory in the FA Cup would not only cement Silva's name in the club's history but also secure Fulham's first major trophy.

The Portuguese manager is eager to elevate both his own reputation and the club's standing with a deep cup run.

"I'm getting a bit older, the only chance for us to watch some football from different countries in Portugal, the main one was the FA Cup to be honest," said Silva.

"The chance for us was to see some important games live on TV from the FA Cup, semifinals for sure, finals for sure. We grew up watching the competition.

"I know what it means, I know that it's the oldest competition in the world. I really love the competition, I think the cups and the main cups, I'm not disrespectful with the Carabao Cup, that is really important too.

"But the main cups in each country are really important because it means an opportunity for all the clubs in the country to fight for something important. Some clubs now dream of something that probably was impossible for them to achieve.

"Now it's another opportunity for us to go and win a competition that is important for us. It's not just about myself, I want to make a statement or stamp something important.

"It's about us, it's about us as a club, it's about us as a group. For me the best way to do it is to think of the next game as the most important one and now it's going to be the FA Cup against Man United.

"I think we are in this part of the season that we want to fight really hard to achieve something important for the club. If you are going to achieve or not, we are going to see after each game.

"But the next one is the most important for us and we want to put all our faith, confidence and hard work, quality as well, because we like to do it with quality, to try to be in the next round of the competition."