Vieira eager to end City’s title drought

Posted Friday, May 13, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

MANCHESTER, England (AP)—For a man who has already won 16 trophies, Patrick Vieira could be forgiven for taking Saturday’s FA Cup final a bit lightly.

But with the Frenchman’s career at Eastlands possibly coming to an end, and the end to the club’s 35-year trophy drought in sight, Vieira insists that’s not going to happen.

“It would be really important to win a trophy for Manchester City,” Vieira said ahead of the Wembley final against Stoke. “I would be really proud to achieve that. The people here have been working so hard for the last few years to try to build a successful football club. I want to be part of it.

Vieira already has four FA Cup titles with Arsenal, and that’s only a small part of his trophy cabinet.

The midfielder won the World Cup, European Championship and Confederations Cup with France, three Premier League titles with Arsenal, four Serie A crowns with Inter Milan, and two Italian Cups.

After seeing limited playing time under former Inter coach Roberto Mancini at City this season, he can’t wait to play in a big final again. His last FA Cup title came in 2005, when he scored the winning penalty against Manchester United on penalties.

“It would be really important to win a trophy for Manchester City,” said Vieira, whose contract expires at the end of the season. “I would be really proud to achieve that. The people here have been working so hard for the last few years to try to build a successful football club. I want to be part of it.

“We have always known the most important thing is to win trophies. We have a big chance to do that on Saturday. I believe we will do it.”

While the club has already secured a place in the Champions League next season for the first time, Vieira knows that fans expect more than that after the big-spending club splashed tens of millions of pounds in the transfer market to bring in big stars.

“It has been 35 years. I can understand the desperation of the fans to win something,” Vieira said. “But it is the same for the players. So many new ones have arrived here and they want to do well. Winning the FA Cup would be a good start.

“I was proud to win it with Arsenal. It was a big competition that meant a lot to the fans. I think for this football club, they have waited for 35 years, winning the FA Cup would be a big moment.”