Seems that the Gareth Bale thread's been locked, rather than bounced back to General. Well, it's 10 years today that our little Welsh wizard -- the one with the quiff -- tore Maicon a new one in Milan.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/the-night-gareth-bale-tore-inter-milan-apart-37324050.html
I remember watching it in the pub. After matches against Werder Bremen and FC Twente, this was it. The glamour tie for which we'd all been waiting so long. In my case, just about my entire Spurs supporting life. The sum total of our "European glory" in the 90s and 00s had been a few runs in the UEFA and Cup-winners' Cups, usually ending in ignominious defeats just when things were starting to look promising. I'm certainly not counting the Intertoto Cup debacle.
Suddenly, 'Appy 'Arry had moulded an exciting team with verve and pace. Spurs were no longer a laughing stock!
Got to the pub early. Claimed a decent table, got the drinks in, and basked in Zadok the Priest. It was a Glory Glory night and nothing could get me down....
...or so I thought. 15 minutes later and my hopes and dreams had been absolutely shattered. Gomes sent off (with Modric making way for a replacement keeper) and 3-0 down already. It was so bad by half time that my mates had stopped laughing and taking the tinkle. The 4th Inter goal barely registered.
Then came a glimmer of hope. Bale turns on the afterburners and scores! 4-1.
By the 80th minute that glimmer had been snuffed out. Inter simply managing he game to its forlorn conclusion. BUT THEN BALE HAPPENED. TWICE!
Another two minutes on the clock and I'm pretty sure we'd have rescued a point.
But points weren't the most important thing at stake that night. It was a matter of BELIEF. A young team believing that they could compete with the best. A 4-3 defeat that felt like a win.
The famous "taxi for Maicon" night at WHL followed and somehow we emerged as group winners. We all remember
that Peter Crouch goal that took us through against AC Milan. Spurs were a force to be reckoned with once more.
But I honestly think that it was that night in Milan that laid the groundwork for everything good that's happened at Spurs over the last decade. Pochettino, the Big 4 becoming a Big 6, our run to the CL final. The fact that every football fan in Europe knows who Spurs are. All down to one hat-trick straight out of every schoolboy's dreams.
I didn't mean for this to be such a long post. Just kept writing, tears in my eyes as the memories flowed. Football, eh?
