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. Inter Milan - Champions League Game 4

Every so often an athlete comes around that you can't help but marvel at. Let my preface my point by stating there will be very little analysis of the game in this piece. This will be closer to a Gareth Bale love fest. The type of "he can do no wrong" love fest I normally reserve for Derrick Rose. Bear with me.
Like I was saying, every so often an athlete comes around that you can't help but marvel at. Gareth Bale is one of those athletes.
Bale is the type of athlete that demands your attention. Some people watch sports casually. They turn on the TV and do something else. The game is merely background noise. That is, unless one of the aforementioned "special" athletes is playing. Look away and you might miss something.
Michael Jordan, Barry Sanders, and Ken Griffey Jr. all had this effect. Every possession, rush, or at bat seemed important, because, in reality, they were. History was being made, and we were well aware of it.
The 21 year old Bale belongs amongst the ranks of these great individual talents. Every time he touched the ball, it was like time stopped. When the ball was passed to Bale, the crowd cheered, followed by a split second of silence, and then an "ooh" or "ahh" reaction after he made a play. This confirmed what I already believed: fans dropped whatever thought, conversation, or text message they were enamored in and watched Bale's every move. They didn't want to miss something special. While watching the World Cup, Lionel Messi is the only player I can remember that had a similar "time-stopping" effect as Bale did tonight.
The reactions on Twitter to Tottenham's 3-1 win were often comical. The attention was focused almost solely on Inter's Maicon, who was widely regarded as the best right back in the world until Bale torched him in two straight games. Maicon was a trending topic, not Bale. Most tweets were jokes directed at Maicon, and I'm proud to say, I got a few in myself.
The amount of attention focused on Maicon tells me that Bale's dominance this year has been accepted as a common occurrence. It's not even interesting anymore to discuss how great Bale has been. It's more fun to rip on one of his many victims.

Tonight, Maicon played Craig Ehlo to Bale's Michael Jordan. In the deciding Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 playoffs, Jordan hit what would be his first career playoff game winner in a Hall of Fame career filled with clutch moments. Most people aren't even aware that Jordan scored 44 points in that game, or that "The Shot" clinched the series for that matter.
Jordan's dominance was accepted. The lasting image from that shot was Craig Ehlo, a great defender, playing picture perfect defense and then crumbling to the ground because he did everything he could, but still got beat by a superior player.
We talk about Ehlo because he didn't get beat like that. Just like Maicon doesn't get beat like he did today. They're the unfortunate fall-guys. The talking points to reaffirm the greatness of others when ironically, Ehlo and Maicon were/are great in their own right.
Bulls color commentator Stacey King likes to say of Rose, "He's too big, too fast, too strong, too good." Sometimes simplicity works best. Bale was all of those things today.
In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy Bale's development as a world class player. I'm not sure how long he'll be in a Spurs uniform. I imagine this is how Royals fans felt watching Zack Greinke's 2009 Cy Young season.

Spurs vs. Inter Milan - Champions League Game 3

"Inter needed only ten minutes to beat Tottenham."
That's what I tweeted as half-time approached, Spurs were down 4-0. At the ten minute mark, Javier Zanetti had scored within two minutes, goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was sent off, and Samuel Eto'o stutter stepped home a penalty kick, the first of his two goals in the match. Eto'o currently leads all Champions League scorers with six.
Playing with ten men, Spurs were unable to stop Inter's controlled attack. Dejan Stankovic put the game out of reach in the 14th minute, putting his side up three. Twenty minutes later, Eto's second goal of the game only added insult to injury.
At halftime, it looked like Inter could easily push across seven or eight goals by the end of the game. Spurs certainly did not look up to the Champions League challenge, in what was probably their most meaningful game since 1962.
Not only were they going to lose, but screw their goal differential up in the process.
Thankfully, Werder and Twente drew, preserving second place for Tottenham in Group A. Tottenham played better defensively in the second half, and were able to narrow the scoring gap.
Gareth Bale was the lone bright spot in a game that desperately needed a bright spot for the visitors. Bale's speed overwhelmed Inter's defense the entire game. Although it wasn't until the 52nd minute that he was able to break through with his first goal. Bale would score two more almost identical goals, but it just wasn't enough.
Tottenham was doomed from the start, as they elected to send off Luka Modric for Gomes' red card. Spurs were already weak in the middle because Rafael van der Vaart was unable to play because of his red card last game against Twente.
The lack of a presence in the middle was evident. Bale and Lennon both played very well on the outside, but found themselves either crossing the ball to no one, or without a playmaker to create for them.
The flow of the offense should be much better with van der Vaart back for the rematch at White Hart Lane. This team lacks creativity without him.

To put things into perspective, this was a match Spurs were unlikely to win anyway. The result wasn't the issue, the fact that they looked utterly confused in the first half was. This was a game that they needed to at least show they could compete with the elite European clubs, and in the first half they couldn't.
Many fans left the game with a warm feeling because of Bale's spectacular performance, and the margin of defeat being cut to only one goal. Both feelings are fool's gold.
A loss is a loss. As long as Spurs take care of business in their remaining games against Werder and Twente, the goal differential won't come into play anyway. There's such a thing as playing well and getting beat by a better team. Spurs didn't play well.
Bale's three goals were all the result of fantastic individual efforts. One player can't beat a great team. If Spurs had scored three team oriented goals then that would have been great. Bale instead had to carry the rest of his team, and that won't get it done in the Champions League.
Hopefully eleven men, the return of van der Vaart, and a change of scenery can make a difference for Spurs in their next meeting with Inter. Either that or Bale may need to score four goals.

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.