' Kenneth Zohore Ready To Repay '

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' Kenneth Zohore Ready To Repay '

Postby Forever Blue » Thu Jun 15, 2017 6:13 pm

Kenneth Zohore ready to repay Neil Warnock's faith as he prepares for Euro Under-21 showcase -


By Chris Wathan

Thursday 15th June 2017


Kenneth Zohore has vowed to repay Neil Warnock’s faith at Cardiff City – by becoming the player his homeland expected him to be.

And the striker says it’s for that reason he won’t be using the Under-21 European Championships as a showcase for a big club move.

Zohore is set to figure for his native Denmark in the junior Euros held in Poland, the tournament kicking off on Friday with the Danes opening their bid against Italy in Krakow on Sunday.

The 23-year-old will line up alongside some of the hottest property on the continent in a tournament that has long been a proving ground for top players; Juan Mata and Thiago Alacantara were recent players of the tournaments, Alvaro Morata the 2013 top scorer.

Those to keep an eye on this term include the Czech Republic’s Sampdoria striker Patrik Schick, a target for Juventus, and the 21-year-old Sandro Ramírez who Everton want to add to their expensive summer additions list. The list of the ones to watch – beyond the Premier League talent in the England ranks – goes on.


It will not be a surprise to those in Denmark who, having watched Zohore make his breakthrough with FC Copenhagen as a 16-year-old, always expected him to not only be on such a stage, but thrive upon it.

Yet, had it not been for the words of Warnock, Zohore is unlikely to have even been on the plane to Poland.

Happily for the Bluebirds, the striker who signed a new deal to reflect his new lease of life and new status as top scorer, knows that – just as he knows he has not yet lived up to Danish expectations.

“I’ve grown older than the young boy who got the debut at the age of 16,” he said in the build-up to this month’s tournament, which will also see games against Germany and the Czech Republic in the group stage. “That’s why I am really glad that I’m sitting here and still so young that I still have plenty of years in front of me to take advantage of what I’ve learned now. Rather now than never.”

Much of that learning seems to have been done in the past six months. There were eyebrows raised in Denmark when Zohore made the move to Cardiff – via a loan move to Belgium – with many thinking he wasn’t ready following a lull in his career. He did little to suggest otherwise for much of his time in South Wales, at least until Warnock got hold of him.

The ultimatum before his substitute appearance against Wolves in mid-December is well known and could well move into Cardiff City legend should he continue the progression that saw him hit 12 goals in the second-half of last season.

Still, it’s refreshing to hear it from the player himself.

“I was really on my way to Belgium on a loan deal that my agent had arranged for me,” he told Danish title Ekstra Bladet. “By that time I had not played under Neil Warnock. We met Wolverhampton and came back 1-0 in a rather bad match.

“He came to me in the break and says: ‘Now you’ve got your chance. Give everything what you can’ - and I did.

“A coach will always take credit when a player does well, but Neil Warnock has helped me a lot, and he has taught me that talent alone does not send me to the clouds. It requires me to work hard and if you do that, the rest will take care of itself – and he has been right.

“There was a match after the meeting against Wolverhampton, where I only thought I would work hard. It was not about scoring goals for me then, it was just about working hard. But when I did that, everything else went for me: I got on the ball more, got in good positions, got in front of goal, got chances.

“The first game I played from the start, I had cramp after an hour, but I’ve learned to work hard and get around the field, and that means where I previously had a single chance, I’m now getting three and four big chances. My running stats have increased markedly and it has meant a lot in a tough league where it is a simple necessity to make a big effort.”

Josh Brownhill tracks Kenneth Zohore during Bristol City's clash with Cardiff City
Zohore is now rested after visibly tiring in his first real crack at the Championship, and ready to make an effort for Denmark knowing there is a chance to show he’s back on track to those expectations.

And he’s adamant he’s ready to meet them – not because he’s hoping to catch the eye of other clubs, but because he wants to repay a faith.

“I feel it must be now for me,” Zohore says of his opportunity after moves to Fiorentina, Brondby, Gothenburg and Odense — and trials with Chelsea — failed to see him realise potential. “There are many who think I’m too old for this Under-21 national team because I’ve been around for a long time, and there’s an impression that I’ve developed, but not as much as people thought I would.

“The expectations on me have been good and bad – I’ve always been looked at and talked about.

“I have grown wiser and older now, and I have learned that, as Neil Warnock says, it is not enough to be good, you also have to work for it.

“I’m still going to live up to all the expectations people have had for me. For all the faith other people have had in me, I’ve also had it in myself. I even forget myself I am still young so I have time.

“So for me, this is not an exhibition window, which is how I would normally would have seen it. For me, it’s about doing the best with the national team, and it does not matter to me if there are all sorts of scouts. I’m happy where I am and do not need a new club.”


Kenneth Zohore in action
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' Kenneth Zohore Ready To Repay '

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