Since his arrival from Slavia Prague in January 2020, Tomáš Souček has seemed destined – albeit in his typically modest manner – to write his name into West Ham United folklore.
The 27-year-old has been an influential part of the significant strides taken by the Irons in his two-and-a-half years in Claret & Blue so far.
From helping his side scrap to avoid the threat of relegation in 2019/20, to being voted Hammer of the Year by his supporters in a Club record-setting Premier League campaign in 2020/21, Souček’s unwavering energy, tenacity and heart have been pivotal.
And yet still the Czech Republic midfielder continues to write his name into Hammers’ hearts with vital moments including the crucial equalising goal in West Ham’s first-ever UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against Sevilla last month.
That goal yielded a first major European quarter-final since 1981, against Olympique Lyonnais, the first leg of which ended in a 1-1 draw at London Stadium last week.
This week, Souček knows that the stage is set for more chapters to be written in his and the Hammers’ recent glories; a win over Lyon at Parc Olympique Lyonnais would mean a first European semi-final since 1976.
“I am very excited because it’s the quarter-final of the Europa League,” Souček smiled. “Many guys didn't achieve this in their whole life, but we are here and it's a really big thing.
“We are one game from the semi-final and we can write history for West Ham, so it's great.”
Souček and teammates Vladimír Coufal and Alex Král have been in a similar position fairly recently with former club Slavia Prague, whom they helped reach the Europa League quarter-finals in 2018/19.
On that occasion, Souček and Slavia went out 5-3 on aggregate in an epic tie against Chelsea, despite the midfielder scoring a fine goal at Stamford Bridge.
This time around, the midfielder is deriving inspiration from the heart and fight which he and his teammates showed in claiming a 1-1 draw against Lyon in east London, despite playing the entirety of the second half with ten men.
Souček also knows that, with the added decisive nature of a second leg and fond memories of that special night against Sevilla behind them, this West Ham team can achieve anything.
The No28 noted: “I just hope that we have a really big chance because of how we played against Lyon at home.
“We lost one man and still got a draw in the second half, so we have a really good chance, but we have to be confident and just mentally be ready for the game.
“I just hope that it will be similar to our second leg against Sevilla, because that was great.
“Our quality, our mentality and our spirit were the best and we went through, so I hope that we will do it again against Lyon.”
