Why Tottenham Hotspur are a new force to be reckoned?
The UEFA Champions’ League group stages are almost up and out of the 16 teams to be progressing to the next round, we already know the identities of 12 and four more will be decided in a fortnight’s time on match day 6. There were some stellar performances
on match day 5 by some players and teams but none more so than Tottenham Hotspur of England who in their first outing in the Champions League progressed to the last 16 and that too with a game in hand.
When Peter Crouch scored a late winner over Manchester City at the Eastlands last May, no one could have predicted the fairy tale that was to unfold over the next few months.
With that goal, Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the Champions League but they still had to go through a qualifier against an unknown side by the name of Young Boys, from Berne.
When City and Spurs met earlier this year in May, no one gave Spurs a chance against their super spending rivals but it only took a moment of magic by Peter Crouch in the 84th minute of the game to settle the tie and send Spurs into the continent
to go on and rub their shoulders with the elite. And so far, they have excelled beyond expectations.
The two games earlier this month will be two of Spur's greatest performances for a long long time and if they somehow go on and manage to do the unthinkable and win the Champions League, these two games will be looked upon as the turning point of their season
in the continent.
But, before Spurs embarked on this journey, they had to overcome Swiss minnows. It all looked like heading for a disaster when Xavier Hochstrasser scared the life out of Spurs to put his side 3 up in under 30 minutes but then started the comeback as Spurs
showed great resilience and grit to come back to White Hart Lane with only a 3-2 deficit and all the more important 2 away goals.
It was a loss that was described by Harry Redknapp as a ‘great defeat’ and indeed, it turned out to be exactly that.
Perhaps, the seeds of higher grit, determination, motivation and above all fighting spirit and will power were sown in those two games that Spurs have carried on into Europe this season. Their remarkable comeback against Inter in the first leg at Guesseppe
Meazza was a glaring testament to their qualities and once again they turned the tie to defeat the Italian giants over two legs to sit pretty at the top of their group at the end of match day 5. They are now only a win away from qualifying top of a group that
features the current holders of the trophy.
But, those two nights belonged to Gareth Bale as the Welshman has been in magical form in the continent; anchoring his side’s every win in Europe. Had it not been for his inspired comeback against Inter in Italy, Spurs would not have been where they are.
He single handily tormented one of the most celebrated defences of the world, and when one comes to think of it as the same defence that kept out the mesmeric Messi and his troops in the semi final of the same competition a year before that, the achievement
looks even more over-awing.
Spurs are a team on the rise in the continent and they are a force to be reckoned with. Arsenal have already paid the price for not acknowledging that fact and Chelsea and United must beware that they have a new force to take care of but more than them,
it’s their European counterparts who should be taking a more keener note.
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