Greek Australian, Ange Postecoglou has delivered the greatest triumph of his career, clutching a potentially job-saving lifeline by steering beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur to Europa League glory in Spain. The former coach of South Melbourne Hellas, 1996-2000 is now king of the mountain.
The trailblazing boss became the first Australian manager and first Greek to win a trophy in a major European club competition as Spurs beat fellow Premier League strugglers Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao on Wednesday night for their first silverware in 17 years.
A scrappy first-half goal from their top scorer Brennan Johnson was ultimately enough to give Tottenham victory in a poor-quality final during which they had to survive a tsunami of late pressure from Ruben Amorim’s otherwise feeble United.
But as a proud Postecoglou and his side celebrated the drought-busting victory at the San Mames Stadium with their ecstatic fans, the only question that remained was whether victory, which guarantees Champions League football for Spurs next season, would be enough to save the 59-year-old from the sack.
There’s been widespread speculation that he is already doomed, regardless of the result. If so, what a glorious way for ‘Big Ange’ to make a grand exit – with Tottenham’s first European trophy for 41 years.
Goalscorer Johnson paid tribute to his beleaguered coach, saying: “He’s done his job. He says he wins in his second year and he has – and if there’s ever a time for a mike drop, it’s now.
“I can’t thank him enough for the trust he’s had in us because some of our performances haven’t been good enough.”
It was a wretched final of Europe’s second-tier continental competition, one that befitted two mediocre EPL sides who’ve lost 44 games between them in all competitions.
Not that the Spurs’ faithful will care one jot after they prevailed in this survival of the unfittest, eventually prevailing thanks to some defensive heroics from defender Micky van de Ven and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Rasmus Hojlund had a header cleared amazingly and acrobatically off the line by van de Ven while Vicario, who’d already made a key second-half save from Alejandro Garnacho, pulled off another superb stop in the 97th minute from Luke Shaw’s header to finally seal the deal.
“I’m so happy. This season hasn’t been good by any means, but not one of us players cares about that,” said Johnson.
“Ever since I came here, it was ‘Tottenham are a good team, but they can never get it done’. We got it done.”
Speaking to Neos Kosmos following the Spurs’ win, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne Bill Papastergiadis OAM: “Ange’s journey from South Melbourne Hellas to winning major global football title is also on many levels a celebration of our successful Greek diaspora here in Melbourne. Ange commenced his career as a young player at South Melbourne Hellas winning 4 titles as player and coach. As he has often said, these formative years were a catalyst for his great achievements subsequently on the global stage. The Greek Community of Melbourne stands proud for one of its members who has never forgotten his roots and the importance of his identity from those early days.”
In 2006, media commentator Craig Foster called on Ange to resign as Socceroos U-20 coach after a failed qualifying campaign for that age group’s World Cup. In Ange’s case, success is the best revenge.
