[ad_pod ]
That doesn’t happen to Tottenham Hotspur.
The desolation, the silence, the looks of ‘what might have been’, the near-misses, they happen to Spurs. They are familiar bedfellows for fans. We know them well.
But this time, just this time, it was different. In Amsterdam, on a rainy evening that will now be remembered for all time, it was Ajax, this brilliant young team, marshalled by the superb Matthijs De Ligt and spearheaded by the genuinely exceptional Hakim Ziyech, who sank to the turf on the final whistle, seeing, but not quite believing.
They headed into the game with a 1-0 aggregate lead. They knew that victory would see them through to the final. So did Spurs. Two goals in the first half seemed to put the tie to bed. Fans across social media vented their fury. Kieran Trippier had made too many mistakes. The players looked tired, dead on their feet, their legs not quite catching up with their brains.
But the second half, that crazy, ridiculous, joyous second half. Lucas Moura was the last player signed by Spurs, in 2018, and then-PSG manager Unai Emery, now in the dugout at Arsenal sold him to the club. Irony can have such a sweet sting. That second half saw the Brazilian turn in a performance befitting the greats of his nation; his first goal came after a lightning counter-attack and gave Spurs belief. Fans cheered. They dare not really believe yet. We’ve been here too many times. “It’s the hope that kills you.”
But then he scored again. The chance looked to have gone when Fernando Llorente – an inspired half-time substitution – sent the ball straight at Andre Onana. But Lucas collected it and embarked on a dribble that grows more unbelievable the more you watch it. He took around six touches and every single one of them was perfect. His finish was laser-guided, into the bottom corner, sending Spurs fans, this writer included, into something approaching delirium. One more goal; all we needed was one more goal.
Ajax came again, of course they did, they hit the post again, as they had done in the first leg. Jermaine Jenas, the former Spurs player turned an excellent co-commentator, said to Darren Fletcher, “something’s happening”. It felt like it.
Spurs hit the crossbar with around five minutes to go, the ex-Ajax star Jan Vertonghen, the would-be hero, going so close to a fairytale return. He tried to stab the rebound but it was cleared off the line.
And then, it switched. There was something approaching acceptance. Going into the game, there had been an attitude of ‘they have to give everything’, and they did. Every single member of that Spurs team had. They had fought, they had battled, and they had gone so close. Ajax versus Liverpool would be an excellent final.
Ajax began to waste time and as we approached the sixth minute of injury time, Moussa Sissoko sent a long, hopeful ball forward. Llorente knocked it down, of course he did, and Dele Alli, the big-game player in the Spurs ranks, sent an impudent flick through to Lucas. He hit it straight away. It wasn’t even a chance, really, and it wouldn’t rank very highly on the xG scale. But it was accurate and it caught Onana cold. The net rippled and Lucas peeled away, mobbed by his team-mates. Fletcher, in the BT Sport commentary box, couldn’t believe it. All the videos since show that nobody else could either.
This writer sank to his knees when the ball hit the back of the net. I’ve seen the goal so many times since and yet, I can’t really remember the moment it went in. What I can remember is the pure, guttural emotion.
Supporting Spurs is different, really, because we’re just so used to going close and seeing victory snatched away. Think of the multitude of FA Cup semi-finals we’ve lost, the 5-1 loss to Newcastle United, third in a two-horse race, losing Luka Modric and Gareth Bale and Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Carrick, appointing Tim Sherwood, failing in the Europa League, never getting a sniff of the Premier League trophy, St Totteringham’s Day, lasagna. This doesn’t happen to us.
But we’ll be there. We’ll be in Madrid, ready to take on Liverpool for the right to be called champions of Europe.
Everyone will fondly remember the tears that followed the semi-final. We will ask each other, a decade from now, “where were you when we beat Ajax?”
It is the most astonishing moment I can remember as a Tottenham fan and it may never be replicated. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it will be topped, on June 1. After Wednesday, don’t you dare rule this team out.