Jorrel Hato could get his first taste of action at Wembley when Chelsea take on Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-finals – and the defender expects the atmosphere created by Blues supporters to contribute to a special game against our old rivals.
Chelsea travel to the national stadium on Sunday for an FA Cup tie that will stir emotions and evoke memories of the competition’s epic final between the west London and West Yorkshire sides in 1970.
And even for Hato, who grew up watching English football from afar in the Netherlands as a young boy, the magic and history of the competition and its ties at Wembley are well known.
The 20-year-old has started each of our four FA Cup games this season, and scored twice on our route to the semi-finals. He can’t wait for the opportunity to help add the latest chapter to the history with Chelsea this weekend.
‘I’m very excited. It’s something you dream of, and it's a dream coming true,’ said the Dutchman on the prospect of representing the Blues at Wembley.
‘Of course, it gives us a chance to win a prize this season. I think I’ve played every game this season in the FA Cup, so it was a bit of a road, but we're finally at Wembley. We know how important it is for us to win this competition, so I'm very excited [to try to reach the final].
‘It would mean a lot. I played at Ajax before, but I never won a trophy there. So this could give me the chance to win the first trophy in my professional career – it would mean a lot for me.
‘I knew when I came to Chelsea that it is a club that plays for prizes. Now we have a chance to play the semi-final, and hopefully the final as well in the FA Cup. So I'm very excited and really looking forward to it.’
One of the many things that makes the FA Cup at Wembley so special is the atmosphere created by the supporters inside England’s largest football stadium. That is just one more thing adding to Hato’s excitement for Sunday’s match.
‘The fans will be very important, of course, but I think in every game, if you play at home or away, the fans are always important for us.
‘Now it's a special one. It's a semi-final in the FA Cup at Wembley, so I expect the same from the fans, like they have done the whole season.
‘It's crazy to imagine, we played at the Allianz Arena with 70,000 fans [against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League], and now we play in a stadium with 20,000 more.
'As a footballer, you can only get excited for these games and for those people you play for. So for me as well, I'm getting excited for it.’