Sol Bamba isn’t used to backing down. The giant centre-half has become a firm favourite with Cardiff’s fans, his no-nonsense defending and enduring commitment establishing him as one of the Bluebirds’ most important players. So when Manchester City — and Bamba’s close friend and former Ivory Coast teammate Yaya Toure — arrive in the Welsh capital for this afternoon’s fourth-round FA Cup clash, the defender will approach the game just like any other. There will be no quarter given.
“I’m just so excited to play against Manchester City. The reason you want to become a professional footballer is to take on the best sides in the world,” Bamba said. “City are definitely that at the moment. They are a pretty scary outfit with the way they’ve been playing, but we’ll play our own game and give it a go.
“If you put 10 men behind the ball and try and defend, then you are going to lose. If you have a go, then who knows what might happen? When you play in games like this, the last thing you want to have is regrets. We’ll make sure we don’t do that.”
Pep Guardiola’s expensively assembled City squad arrive in South Wales still in contention for all three domestic trophies and the Champions League.
Twelve points clear at the top of the Premier League, the rapiers in light blue are the best team in England by a distance and their presence in the Welsh capital has attracted a sellout Cardiff City stadium crowd for the first time in years. Bamba is looking forward to locking horns with one man in particular.
Advertisement
“I spoke to Yaya a couple of weeks ago when it was my birthday. We played alongside each other at international level for so many years and we know each other well,” Bamba said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. I know he’s been playing in quite a lot of the cup games for City so hopefully we can get the chance to face each other. It should be interesting!
“We’ve actually laughed about the quality in their dressing room because we know all about the players we’re coming up against. We have full respect for City: Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, you could go on and on.
“But if that doesn’t excite you as a footballer, you’re in the wrong game. That’s how I look at it, anyway. We want to show what we can do”
While City have been hitting the headlines all season, Cardiff have been making waves of their own. Bamba has been integral to Neil Warnock’s side pushing for promotion, his consistent performances, either at centre-half or as a holding midfielder, marking him out as one of the division’s best players. Cardiff’s fans are clear in their affection for the 33-year-old, their song for Bamba over the festive period to the tune of Wham’s Last Christmas making that plain. The lyrics were questionable, but the affection absolute.
Advertisement
Warnock even went as far as to describe Bamba as a better defender than Liverpool’s £75m man, Virgil van Dijk. “It’s always nice when you get praise, but the manager took it too far,” the man himself joked.
“When he compared me to Van Dijk my phone blew up! But to be honest, I just ignored them. My team-mates, family and friends had a good laugh, but it’s been great at Cardiff. My family and children love it here and the supporters have been very, very good to me, especially with the song! All I want to do is give back to them on the field.”
Bamba — who scored an FA Cup goal against City for Leicester inside a minute in his first game in English football — has been at the heart of Cardiff’s turnaround from underachievers to promotion contenders.
The Bluebirds were 23rd in the Championship when he joined. Now, things are different. “To score against City was one of the best moments of my career and a repeat wouldn’t be too bad,” he laughed. “Cardiff is a top-flight club in waiting and the potential is huge. A win over City would be massive and give us a lot of confidence.
“Our aim is to be playing against teams like City next season in the Premier League. We’ve got nothing to lose and that’s a great position to be in because we can go out there with freedom. If we can get a result it will show we belong at the top level. We believe that’s where we should be, now we have a chance to show it.”