Tottenham Clinches 'Group A' With Draw

I'm still warming up to the idea of a draw. Should a draw excite me? Is it really something to celebrate? Blame it on all the years of basketball, football, and baseball watching. It's only fitting that Tottenham's Champions League group stage journey ends where it started -- in a tie. A tie that should have been a win nonetheless, but that's besides the point.
It's been a long journey, really long actually. The "six games within the group and one game every two weeks" thing drags on quite a bit. The formula is good because the scheduling essentially builds its own suspense for each game. On the flip side, some fan bases -- Arsenal fans I'm looking at you, have two weeks to think up all of the possible ways your team can blow it.
I have to admit I bought into all the skepticism surrounding Spurs prior to the Champions League. Everyone who seemed to know anything about soccer was basically waiting for them to choke away their first opportunity in 50 years to make a lasting imprint on the national stage. I figured they must know more than me, and what do I really know anyway -- so I equated each moment to familiar Cubs' choke jobs.
First game against Bremen and Spurs jump ahead 1-0 with a gift-wrapped own goal. Fifteen minutes later and they take a 2-0 lead. Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS, Mark DeRosa hits a two run homer in the 4th inning as the Cubs take an early lead, which they eventually surrender. Sure enough, Bremen ties the game just after halftime and doesn't look back. Spurs lose two points and lay the foundation for what looks to be their expected sinking of the ship.
They bounce back in a 4-1 victory at home over Twente. Expected to be the whipping boy of the group, Twente would be heaped with praise at the moment had Spurs not stolen the show and unexpectedly won the Group. At the time, it was a good win for Spurs because they were coming off a Premier League loss, but nothing to get too excited about.

The Inter Milan games sandwiched between the Bremen and Twente rematches were significant because they introduced Gareth Bale to the world. A somewhat obscure name to most soccer fans, Bale burst onto the scene with a three goal performance in the first leg against Inter. He single-handedly carved up Inter's defense and was really the only bright spot in a game that Tottenham had trailed 4-0 at one point. He topped that in the second leg, producing one magnificent run after another and crossed the ball flawlessly to set up two more goals. Bale's play became one of the great stories of the Group Stages, resulting in an onslaught of rumors linking the 21 year-old to a number of big clubs.
A 3-0 blowout at home seemed to be appropriate for a Spurs team that was coming off the high of beating the defending European Champions and a Bremen team that had been shutout at home by Twente. Spurs and Twente both went out in resounding fashion, scoring three times a piece. Both teams already had sealed their fate and played into the wackiness that swirled around this game since the very beginning. I've never seen a goalie whiff like Boschker did...never. Robert Green's mishap looked forgivable compared to that.
Other than Bale, the biggest Champions League story surrounding Tottenham was their home versus road performance. At home they were brilliant, outscoring their opponents 10-2 en route to three wins. On the road, they were outscored 9-8, in two draws and one loss. They need to clear their road woes up. It's been a problem for them all season, including the Premier League. It's not the results that are disappointing, you can live with two draws and a loss on the road, but surrendering nine goals in three games is inexcusable.
But now is not the time to dwell on the negative. This is a historic accomplishment for Spurs. Not only do they advance to the knockout stage, but they earned the top seed in Group A, so they can avoid some of the heavy hitters in the next round.
Let's party like it's 1961. President Kennedy, West Side Story, crumbling US diplomatic relations, but most importantly, quality Spurs football.

Spurs vs. Twente - Champions League Game 2

Rafael van der Vaart accomplished about as much as any player could in 60 minutes of action. His last 15 minutes were particularly eventful. He went from low, to lower, to high, to "I can't believe I just picked up my second yellow card this early in the second half."
Van der Vaart started the match on the right side of the midfield in place of the ineffective Aaron Lennon. While more accustomed to playing in the center of the field, the combination of van der Vaart and Bale on the wings proved to be incredibly effective, and at this point, gives Spurs the best chance to win. Both van der Vaart and Bale dominated the first half with their play.
While Spurs controlled almost 60 percent of the possession in the first half, they weren't able to create a scoring opportunity for the majority of the first 45 minutes.
It wasn't until the 40th minute when Peter Crouch was tackled to the ground by Peter Wisgerhof in the box. Fresh off a yellow card for delaying the penalty kick, Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov made a brilliant diving save to deny van der Vaart.
The missed opportunity was a major blow for the home side that fought off an early game surge from Twente to take control of the first half, but still headed to the locker room with a scoreless draw.
Determined to make up for his miss, van der Vaart gave Spurs the lead less than two minutes into the second half.
Spurs would double their lead shortly after when Roman Pavlyuchenko put home a penalty kick given after Bale was tackled inside the box.
Normally a 2-0 lead seems comfortable, but that was far from the case in this match. Substitute Nacer Chadli cut the lead in half shortly after Pavyluchenko's goal after a surprising series of offensive surges from Twente. Minutes later, van der Vaart was sent off after picking up his second yellow.
With an extra man and down only a goal, it seemed like the momentum was starting to swing in the visitor's favor. But Spurs were able to hold it together. Faced with the disadvantage, they took care of the ball better and made crisper passes.
They were so crisp, they scored two shorthanded goals. Pavyluchenko scored his second penalty kick of the game, awarded for a controversial handball, and Bale made a fantastic run to put the game out of reach in the 85th minute.
Wednesday's match also marked the return of goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. His impact was felt immediately, as he made a brilliant one handed save while running forward. The save came early in the first half. Had he allowed a goal, it could have changed the dynamic of the match.
With the win, Tottenham joined Inter Milan atop Group A with four points each. They will face an uphill challenge when they meet Inter on the road without van der Vaart a month from now.
Regardless, starting group play with four points, Spurs have put themselves in an excellent position to advance to the knockout stages. 

Champions League Draw Finally Here

At precisely 11:45 CT I was staring at my computer, steadily hitting the refresh button every 60 seconds. This is what I would call typical "Ebay Behavior." Hitting refresh every few seconds hoping for a positive development. Which inevitably leads you to question your life and priorities because all you've accomplished in the last ten minutes is staring and periodically working out your right index finger.
As I found myself engaging in Ebay Behavior at 11:45 this morning, this time it wasn't to make sure I was still the high bidder for a rare Sega Genesis game, but to see Spurs' Championship League Draw.
The sad part about this is that they could have thrown any teams in their group and I still wouldn't have known if it was a good or bad draw. That's what research is for. See, I did learn something in school.
From what I gathered, Spurs' draw could have been better, could have been worse. I know, world class digging. For the complete list of groupings, click here.
For new fans like myself, the groupings are made easy. Teams are separated into 4 pots, with 8 teams in each pot. Pot 1 is supposed to consist of the best teams, while pot 4 is the worst. Each group is made up of one team from each pot.
Without further ado, here's who Spurs (who were part of pot 3) drew.

Inter Milan (Italy, Pot 1) - Go ahead and pencil Inter Milan into the knockout stages now. Consider these factors:
1) They won the Champions League last year and return every player from their starting lineup in the championship game.
2) They have world class players Wesley Sneijder (arguably the best player in the 2010 World Cup), Julio Cesar (arguably the best goalkeeper in this tournament), Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, and Lucio.
There's probably a third point, but it pales in comparison to the first two. Plain and simple, Inter Milan is one of only a handful of teams that is expected to win this tournament.
In addition to their national success, Inter has dominated Italy's Serie A as of late. They've been crowned champions of Italy's premier soccer league the last five years in a row. They're also the only team in Serie A that can say they've never dropped out of the league in their 100 plus year existence.
The best Spurs can hope for is a draw at home. Either way, it should be a riveting scene when Inter visits White Hart Lane.
Inter plays in Giuseppe Meazza stadium, the largest stadium in Italy, seating around 80,000. I'm guessing that game may be a tad intimidating.
Some other interesting information I learned: don't ever shorten Inter Milan to "Milan." Milan is AC Milan's shortened name, who also happen to be Inter's biggest rival. The two side's fans are typically split along class lines, and don't much care for each other.

Werder Bremen (Germany, Pot 2) - Werder Bremen comes in as a team that finished 3rd in last year's Bundesliga, Germany's premier soccer league. Werder seem to be the wild card of this group. If they show up, they should advance, but this is not the same team as last year's third place club.
Most notably, Werder lost German World Cup standout Mesul Ozit to Real Madrid at the start of this season.
They didn't respond well, dropping their first Bundesliga game 4-1 to a TSG Hoffenheim side that finished 11th in the league last year.
Werder can hang their hat on the fact that they've finished in the top 3 of their league in 6 of the last 7 years. They will have time to adjust to life without Ozit and could very well turn it around in time for the Champions League.
The trip to Weserstadion should be a fun one. Werder's stadium is located on the bank of the Weser River and a ship's whistle sounds every time they score a goal. Hopefully that whistle won't be blowing too often in Tottenham's game though.
Spurs' match ups with Werder will likely determine the second team to come out of Group A.

FC Twente (Netherlands, Pot 4) - I've been tempted to just call them 20. You know, that's how it looks doesn't it? Ok, I have no idea how to pronounce this Dutch's teams name, in fact, I know very little about them.
They finished first in the top Dutch league Eredivisie last year. They finished second in 2009. While not thought of as a dominant league, it would be foolish to overlook this side. In 1975, they actually were the runner up in the Champions League. So there, they already have more experience than Spurs in this tournament.
Twente's De Grolsch Veste stadium's seating was doubled in the late 90s. What that tells me is they have a growing fan base that surely will be rowdy come game time. Especially against a pot 3 team they feel presents the best chance of earning three points.
Spurs haven't exactly looked good on the road this year. They fell 3-2 to Young Boys, and a bad call saved them from a draw against Stoke.
Both of these teams should have been convincing victories, even on the road. If Spurs don't start playing better away from White Hart Lane, the road game against Twente could prove to be especially costly.