Pienaar aims to beat the soccer odds at Wembley

Steven Pienaar is taking a philosophical approach to Everton’s status as FA Cup final underdogs against Chelsea by insisting Guus Hiddink’s side are only human.

South Africa midfielder Pienaar has recovered from the hamstring problem he suffered against Fulham last weekend and is set to start at Wembley on Saturday.

The match is Everton’s first FA Cup final since they beat Manchester United 1-0 in 1995 courtesy of a Paul Rideout goal and Pienaar is hoping history will repeat itself as the Merseyside club look to end their 14-year wait for silverware.

Although Everton will walk out at Wembley as huge underdogs, with Chelsea heavily favoured to win their fifth FA Cup, Pienaar sees no reason to fear the west London club.

“The belief is there that we can win because we are playing against 11 human beings at the end of the day,” he said.

“It is Chelsea and they are a great team with good players everywhere but nothing is impossible and we will see at the final whistle what the result is.

“The way we started the season and the way we have come back has proved to a lot of people what we are about and we are looking forward to the cup final.

“Each and every FA Cup game we have put a double shift in and we hope we will do the same in the final, but it will be tough because they are one of the best teams in England.”

Victory would give Everton a fairytale end to what has been a testing season. They did not win at Goodison Park until November and they have also been struck with a nightmare injury run with the creative likes of Ayegbeni Yakubu, James Vaughan and Mikel Arteta all being ruled out.

However, that did not stopped them finishing fifth in the Premier League as well as reaching the Cup Final.

Pienaar himself missed the start of the season with a broken toe and admits it has been atough season.

But he has filled the void left by Arteta’s cruciate problem, providing a constant attacking threat from the left wing and he is proud of how he has performed this term, with Moyes also full of praise for him in recent weeks.

“The way things went at the beginning of the season was sad.” Pienaar said. “Supporters and season tickets holders coming to the games were not getting their results but we have turned things around.

“I got injured and came back and you are coming back to a team that isn?t playing well is really hard.

“You get criticised but you just have to work hard and I think that is what I have done.

“I had to prove myself this season because after you sign a contract people expect more from you.

“I had pressure to prove myself because of last season and I had to do better than last season so to get the praise from the manager is something I appreciate.”

Pienaar believes Moyes has the ability to take Everton back to their 1980s pinnacle, when they were one of Europe’s strongest teams, winning the league championship twice, the FA Cup and the Cup Winners Cup.

“The club is going forward and what the manager has done is great,” Pienaar said.

“But not only the manager – the supporters and the chairman have definitely got the club going in the right direction.”

Moyes, voted League Managers’ Association Manager of the Year this week, insists he would gladly swap personal accolades for an FA Cup winners’ medal.

“This final is only the first of many and I predict Everton will get the opportunity to win many more things in the future,” Moyes said.

“We are ready and it’s our next step.”