Middlesbrough’s Boateng: I’ll retire if we win Cup

Boateng said: “If we win the cup, I would probably hang up my boots because I’d have fulfilled any dream I had as a boy.

“To walk out there in the first final back at Wembley would be the same buzz as winning the Champions League.”

Boro face Premiership leaders Manchester United at the Riverside in the last eight.

Boateng admitted: “I’m not saying we are very confident of beating United because they are a very good team and I respect all their players.

“But I do think the winner will probably go on to reach the final.

“The tie is at our place where United always find it quite difficult to play against us.

“People might say Reading would have been an easier game. But as they proved in their replay with United, there are no easy games at this stage.

“The FA Cup is a tremendous prize and this draw against Manchester United is a reward for a lot of hard work.

“If anything in life is worth having, it’s worth working hard to achieve.

“Losing the 2000 final to Chelsea was one of the biggest disappointments of my career by far.

“Neither side played well and a David James mistake cost us.”