'I'd love to score' - Chopra

Nov 10 2007 by Paul Gilder, The Journal

Michael Chopra will have no qualms about celebrating should he score against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light this lunchtime, as Paul Gilder reports.

IT is an image that still pains Sunderland’s supporters. His sinews straining, his eyes bulging, his fists clenched. Michael Chopra’s celebrations remain ingrained. Those scenes can never be forgotten. The scars are too deep.

Forgiveness. That is a different matter. The past cannot be erased, the striker remains a player whose finest hour in a black-and-white shirt came at Sunderland’s expense. Yet atonement is within his grasp.

Chopra will forever be associated with the goal he scored for Newcastle United in a 4-1 win on Wearside that crushed red-and-white spirits. It was April 17, 2006. It was the equaliser. The subsequent celebrations hurt even more than the goal. His expression maniacal, the 23-year-old did not hold back.

Should Chopra repeat the feat against the Magpies, it would help to heal the wounds and further underline that, despite the doubts his arrival at the Stadium of Light prompted this summer, acceptance has been achieved.

“The Sunderland fans sing ‘Chopra’s one of us’ – that’s nice,” said an appreciative player last night. “Whenever you move clubs, you hope the fans accept you and, when you hear them singing your name, it means a lot.”

Considering his St James’s Park past, given his Gallowgate roots, one suspects it means a lot more to Chopra than most. “It tells me that they’ve noticed the effort I’ve put into all the games I’ve played,” he said, avoiding perhaps the most important point.

Considering he is a former Newcastle player, a black-and-white fanatic and a man who destroyed their dreams just 19 months ago, Chropra’s bid to win over Sunderland’s supporters was an unenviable task. Yet the cynics are being won over, the doubts fast fading.

A goal against United this lunchtime would silence even the most sceptical. Despite his upbringing, despite prior allegiances, it is something he is desperate to achieve, a challenge he is determined to rise to.

“Of course I’d love to score,” admitted a striker who has not managed to do so since August 15. “I loved scoring for Sunderland earlier in the season and, like all strikers, I want to score in all the games I’m involved in. This will be no different.”

But what would be the response? Newcastle striker Mark Viduka insisted that he would not celebrate were he to score upon his first return to Middlesbrough in August and the Australian proved good to his word. Yet Chopra is making no such claim.

“I always celebrate goals,” he said, perhaps aware that a failure to do so would risk upsetting Sunderland sensitivities. “I celebrated goals at Newcastle, at Watford, at Barnsley, at Cardiff and I’ll celebrate goals for Sunderland. The supporters here have seen what scoring goals means to me when I did it against Tottenham. I understand what this game means to the fans, I’m a North-East lad born and bred and I understand these rivalries.”

One suspects Chopra’s celebrations should he score against Newcastle this weekend might not be as wild as those that followed his sole Premier League strike for his hometown club. But a player determined to underline his commitment to a team that he loved to hate during his formative years understands this is a weekend upon which he can assuage all doubts.

That he has failed to score in 11 first-team fixtures means his desperation to make an impact is greater than ever. “I’m a striker, I’m paid to score goals,” he said last night. “If I get a chance I’ll be doing everything I can to put the ball in the net. There’s pressure on me to score but that comes with being a striker. I won’t stop giving 100% and I have the self-belief to know that my luck will change and the goals will come.”

No one suffered more at Chopra’s hands two seasons ago than Kevin Ball. Having been placed in interim charge following Mick McCarthy’s dismissal the last time Newcastle played at Sunderland, Ball’s team were leading when, just 13 seconds after his introduction, Chopra levelled the scores and laid the foundations for a cruel yet comprehensive triumph.

“He epitomised what good goalscorers are about,” said the former Black Cats captain last night. “Michael gambled, the keeper (Kelvin Davies) came and called for it, Steve Caldwell left it, and he (Davies) should have come and cleaned Chops out. But he hesitated and the ball was in the net.” Cue the celebrations. Begin the capitulation. Spark the angst. Ball understands better than most that, in the circumstances, joining Sunderland was a brave decision on Chopra’s part and his admiration is obvious. “I think Michael has done well since he came here – he has done a magnificent job,” he said.

“To be a Newcastle lad, to have crossed the water – people will make something of it but I don’t think it will trouble him. He’ll have no problems. If the ball’s there for him to finish, I’m sure he’ll do it. He might be the player who scores to win the games. I’m sure Newcastle’s supporters will respect the fact that Michael’s here to do a job the best he can. Come the end of the match, should he have scored (the winner), it’s something he’ll take with him.”

It remains to be seen what reception Chopra receives from the travelling contingent, although given what is at stake the striker has rather more to concern him than black-and-white abuse.

“We’ve all been talking to Michael about his Newcastle past this week,” said Nyron Nosworthy, the Black Cats captain aiming to end United’s recent dominance in the fixture. “He thinks he’ll get a lot of stick from the Newcastle fans if he scores, but he’s not bothered about that.”

“I’m sure there’ll be banter between the supporters,” added Chopra, a player aiming to preserve his 100% record in the fixture having played twice and won twice. “It’s going to be great to play in front of a sell-out crowd. Local derbies are so passionate, on and off the pitch, and you can feel the atmosphere from the minute you come out. It’s special and I can’t wait.”

Whenever you hear the fans singing your name, it means a lot. It tells me that they’ve noticed the effort I’ve put into all the games I’ve played