Mata Loves The Magic Of The FA Cup

Hi everyone. The New Year started the same way it ended: with more football! We’ve played a lot of games in just a few days, but it’s worth it. The atmosphere during this couple of weeks is really nice.

We started 2015 with a Premier League game at Stoke City. It’s always a tricky one, not only because of the opponent but also because it gets very windy in that stadium. We conceded a goal very early into the game, from a corner kick, and we had to fight back to tie the score.

Radamel showed his outstanding instinct as a striker. He is spectacular inside the box. But despite his goal we couldn’t win, and it’s been several consecutive draws away from home now… We need a win in our next visit. Like the one in the FA Cup at Yeovil Town, for instance.

It was a genuine cup game, when you visit a team of a different category and find a stadium full of people and a very motivated opponent. It wasn’t easy, but we finally made it to the next round with two superb goals from Ander [Herrera] and [Angel] Di Maria. Let’s see who we play next [but] I want to win this title again. This was my first trophy in England and I’m very fond of it. Playing the semis and the final at Wembley is amazing. I hope I can do it again because I love this competition.

Now we take a short break to prepare for the game against Southampton. They are one of the surprise teams of the season, but we have to beat them in order to make good profit of the last few draws. We’ve been unbeaten in the last 11 games and that gives a lot of confidence to the team, although we know there are things to improve. We will keep fighting and trying to approach the two teams ahead of us [in the league].

Lastly, one wish. The Spanish tradition is that The Three Wise Men visit our homes in the night of 5 and 6 January and bring presents for everybody. No matter where you are from, I hope they bring you many things and may all your wishes come true in 2015, a year I feel is going to be very exciting.

Big hug!

Juan

Read Juan’s full blog each week on his website, juanmata8.com.

Credit: manutd.com