The Spurs Go Marching to Madrid
I remember the first time I had ever watched
a Premier League match. It was Chelsea v. Manchester United, Remembrance Day, England's version of Veterans' Day. I had never watched a full English soccer match in my life. Having grown up in a household that cherished NFL Sundays, NHL weeknights and college lacrosse Saturdays, soccer was literally what many other Americans find it: a foreign sport that was slow, dull, and only had about 10 or so instances of actual excitement. But when I went to college and joined a fraternity full of former high school and current club soccer players, it was only a matter of time before I was hooked on soccer, particularly the Premier League. I knew it was incredibly popular in America, but I didn't really think I would catch on. Now, I find myself waking up at 7:30am some Saturday mornings to watch Tottenham play (if they have the early match). I can't get enough of Spurs; I've watched almost every match with my roommates at college. We were heavily divided in my apartment; two Spurs fans against one Manchester United fan, along with friends who rooted for Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, and so on. My newfound appreciation for soccer saw me cheering for other teams like Juventus and Atletico Madrid. One year later, I am gearing up to watch Spurs clash with Liverpool for the UEFA Champions League Final this Saturday in Madrid. To say I am excited would be an understatement.
I was often asked why I chose to support Tottenham over other clubs like Manchester United or Manchester City. It was hard question to answer and I usually had multiple reasons why I liked Spurs: their style of play was quite attractive; I was incredibly impressed by the players like Harry Kane and Hueng-Min Son, and how they rose from being one of the mid-tier clubs to one of the most desirable clubs to play for. A lot of my love for Spurs also came from two of my fraternity brothers, who were and still are bigger Spurs fans than I am. They had their reasons for loving Spurs as well: one was Korean and wanted to watch Son ball out in the Premier while representing South Korea; the other had sentimental and family connections to the club. I'm glad I picked this team over a team like Man U, Chelsea, or City, especially now that Spurs are in the Champions League Final. Some people might find it difficult to root for a club that has not won a trophy in almost eleven seasons. In fact, most casual soccer fans would probably jump ship and hop on a winning team's bandwagon. Being a New York Rangers fan, I knew exactly how it felt to watch a team fail to meet the fanbase's expectations. It is a feeling I have felt for years and will probably continue to feel for the rest of my life. But sticking by a team's side through the good times and the bad times shows a certain character trait: you aren't deterred by failure; you embrace the shortcomings and use them as a reminder to keep going and keep working for the ultimate goal. That is exactly what Spurs are doing now. After being knocked out of all domestic tournaments (the Carabao/League Cup and the FA Cup) and finishing fourth in the Premier League, Tottenham now has the chance to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a continental competition, something all soccer analysts never saw coming.
Everyone is baffled by the success of Tottenham in the Champions League. They shouldn't even be in the Final to begin with. Trace it back to the beginning of tournament and it looked like it would be a monumental task for Spurs to even get out of the group stage. They were in the same group as Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, and Inter Milan, all elite clubs of their respected domestic leagues. They may not all have the same caliber of players, but the Champions League isn't the same as domestic competitions. The pressure is always on; clubs from all corners of Europe are battling for supremacy and upsets are almost a certainty. The group stage did not start in the favor of Spurs, as they lost to Inter 2-1 in the first match and were throttled by Lionel Messi's Barcelona 4-2 in the second. It looked almost hopeless and coupled with the struggles Tottenham faced in England, the season was looking to be another disappointment for fans. Yet things turned around in continental play, with a draw against PSV, followed by a win against the same club the following match day. The success of the club was starting to spark glimmers of hope in the Spurs fan base, myself included. A win against Inter, and a draw against Barca propelled Tottenham into the knockout stage and I was so excited. My club never gave up and that was worth all the admiration in the world.
I was not really worried about Spurs going into the Round of 16 and for good reason. They took care of Borussia Dortmund real fast, beating them 4-0 on aggregate. What really worried me was the quarterfinal matches against Manchester City. City were no joke; they had already beaten Tottenham back in October in the Premier League and were favorited to win the EPL and Champions League. Yet, Spurs overcame Barca in the group stage and they proved they were wanted it more. I had never seen a team come together to overthrow the Goliath that City was. Son scored the initial goal in first leg, but the real game was the second leg. After Son and City winger Raheem Sterling traded goals, the game came down to Fernando Llorente, the oafish striker that took Harry Kane's place when the star forward was injured in the first leg.. After a controversial set piece goal was awarded to Llorente after VAR review, Tottenham found themselves in through to the semifinals against an Ajax team that knocked off the defending champions, Real Madrid. But I think the analysts and experts didn't give Spurs enough credit. Sure, VAR rulings went in their favor, but you have to realize that it wasn't just by sheer luck Tottenham got the win over City. What really showed was the character of the players and the tactics of manager Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine manager has been successful at getting the most out of players in the prime of their careers. Without him, Harry Kane would not be the world class striker he is now, Son would still a no-name left winger at Bayer Leverkusen, Brazilian forward Lucas Moura would still be riding the bench at PSG behind the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe; and Danish attacker Christian Eriksen would not be pursued by super-clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United. The experts wrote off Spurs too quickly and they ate their words.
I thought it was all lost after the first leg against Ajax. The young, bashful, and insanely talented squad was on a Cinderella-story run after they killed off Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus. These two legs showed me that Tottenham would not go down without a fight, even after losing Kane and other key players to serious injuries. If you didn't see the first leg, it ended in favor of Ajax, with a score of 1-0. The youth and talent of Matthias De Ligt and Frenkie De Jong overpowered stronger teams so it wasn't that shocking to see Spurs heading into the second leg with a mountain to climb. Yet look what they did. Lucas Moura scored an unbelievable hat trick to send the boys to the Final! The team never backed down from adversity. They embraced every challenge that came their way, whether it was Barcelona, Inter, PSV, Man City, or Ajax. Tottenham have risen from the mid-tier and into the level of the most elite clubs.
Heading into tomorrow's final at 3pm EST, Spurs will be facing a loaded Liverpool squad featuring talent like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Virgil Van Djik, and Alisson Becker. I can only speculate what might happen. Maybe we'll see the brilliance and mentality of Poch's squad in full form; maybe it'll be a back-and-forth affair like the second leg against City. But the biggest takeaway from this Spurs team is that they have faced challenges and defied odds. I think it's worth admiring the attitude of the team and coaches and it is something that could be translated in everyday life. We all face adversity and problems come our way, but we can either choose to let those problems put us down or we can face them head on and attack at full force. If Spurs can get over their mountains, we can get over ours.
WHEN THE SPURS GO MARCHING!
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