Despite a historically bad season in the Premier League, the Tottenham Hotspurs, led by Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, are on the cusp of their first trophy in 17 years.
The Spurs are in the final of the Europa League, the second-tier competition to the Champions League, after beating Norway’s Bodø/Glimt.
Postecoglou is the first Australian manager to lead a team to a European final.
What happened
Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro scored to lead the Spurs to a 2-0 victory in the second leg of their semi-final against Bodø/Glimt.
After winning 3-1 in the opening leg of the semi-final tie, the result means that the Spurs are through to the final with an aggregate victory of 5-1.
In the final, the Spurs will play Premier League rivals Manchester United, who beat Spain’s Athletic Club Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate.
The winner-takes-all final will be played on 21 May at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao.
The Spurs and Postecoglou
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In Postecoglou’s second season with the Spurs, the side has been heavily affected by injuries and is languishing in 16th on the Premier League ladder. This has led to much criticism of Postecoglou and whether or not he should keep his job as coach.
In September last year, at a time when the Spurs had only won one of their first four games, Postecoglou boldly said: "I always win things in my second year.”
That statement was accurate at the time. In the settings where he had spent at least two seasons, Postecoglou won A-League titles with the Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne, a J-League title with Yokohama F Marinos, the Asian Cup with the Socceroos, and two Scottish championships with Celtic.
Now, that prophecy, which has been widely mocked, is only one match away from fulfilling itself at Tottenham. And given the fact that Tottenham have not won a trophy since the League Cup (aka Carabao Cup) in 2008, it would be a significant achievement for the club to win the Europa League.
After Thursday’s victory, Postecoglou dismissed his critics, telling reporters: "What's happening now is people are fearing… that it actually might happen, and let's see how we can tear it down somehow and diminish it somehow by saying it's been a poor season and we don't deserve this or we don't deserve that.”
He then pointed to the significance of this final for the club: “You have to frame it against what this club has been through over the last 15 or 20 years and what the supporters have been through. We've given them some real hope and something to dream about that we can do something special this year."
