An Aussie has put themselves in the sporting history books!
The Europa League final took place this morning in Bilbao and Australia’s own Ange Postecoglou has ended Tottenham Hotspur’s 17-year drought and made champions of his team. Securing a place for himself in the history books, Postecoglou has seen his Hotspurs secure a final victory against Manchester United with an end score of 1-0.
Pressure was high on Coach Ange Postecoglou as he said in an interview back in September “I always win things in my second season” a sentence that made him infamous. That with the realisation that this was indeed his second season with Tottenham, expectations were exceptionally high going into the final this morning.
Postecoglou received much criticism for this statement as well, many calling him a clown or wildly overconfident. Well today he got to prove all them wrong as he did exactly that by securing a Tottenham finals win in his second year. Mark Bosnich, as Australian football legend, even marked this achievement as one of the greatest sporting feats ever to be achieved by an Australian. Bosnich on Stan Sport even said:
“for him to come out on top, and all those players and all these fans after all that adversity, is a wonderful achievement,”
But to the game. After finishing the standard season fourth on the ladder, Tottenham Hotspur took on Manchester United who finished the season in third, it was a rare final in which two of the lowest finishing side clashed in a final. When the two sides met this morning it genuinely seemed like it could’ve been anybody’s game. The game was hotly contested with neither side able to sink any into the net until just before half time, where Brennan Johnson sealed a scrappy goal to give the edge Tottenham needed.
The second half became very much about defence for the Spurs as Manchester United seems to be all over the ball. United ended up dominating play with over 70% of possession, they had 16 shots on goal to Tottenham’s 3, and over twice as many passes. But ultimately, Tottenham was able to play a strong defence and had the one stat difference that mattered at the end, most goals, and secured their place in history as the winners of the 2024-2025 Europa League.
When all was settled Postecoglou knew what really mattered to his club and spoke with TNT Sports saying:
“I know what it means for this football club… Coming third was not going to change this football club, winning a trophy would…. I still feel like there’s a lot of work to be done, but not as much work as people might think,… People can bang on about our 20 league defeats and where we are, but they’re missing the point of what we’re trying to build here, and what I’m trying to do anyway… I really feel tonight can be a great place for us to kick on.”
