Seb Larsson: This is Sunderland's big chance

Jan 29 2012 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

SEB LARSSON insists no-one should doubt the importance of the FA Cup to Sunderland.

Almost 40 years after the trophy last came to the North East, Sunderland’s 1973 Cup winners are still revered on Wearside and the competition retains a special place in the club’s history.

But, with the Premier League – and, for the lucky few, the Champions League – dominating the football calendar, there is a wider feeling these days that the world’s oldest domestic cup competition has lost some of its sparkle.

And, while that may be true for the elite clubs, Larsson says the cup still provides sides such as Sunderland with their best chance of glory.

“It is hard for me to tell if the top four clubs take the FA Cup seriously or not,” said the former Arsenal and Birmingham winger.

“But I know we are taking it seriously – the FA Cup is one of the most famous competitions in the world.

“Only a few clubs are capable of winning the Premier League title, but the cup competitions are different.

“For a club like Sunderland, they are important because they give us a realistic chance of winning silverware.

“I know that it can happen, because last season I won the Carling Cup with Birmingham.

“Winning the cup with Birmingham, which nobody expected us to do against Arsenal in the final, shows that that is possible.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be one of the top four clubs that win the trophies, we managed to do it last year and that just shows that it is possible to do it.

“Whatever people say, once you are in the cup and you walk out on that field, you do everything you can to win the game.

“I think every manager as well wants to go as far as they can in the competition.

“We are definitely going to do everything we can to go through.

“Some of the bigger teams are playing each other early on this year and you look at that and think it gives us a chance to progress with some of the bigger teams being knocked out.

“Sunderland won the FA Cup in 1973 and that is still being talked about now. It would be fantastic if we could give the fans something new to celebrate.”