The smile of Brennan Johnson illuminated San Mames when he turned the Welsh flag. A Shirtless Pedro Porro jumped on Ange Postecoglou. The Tottenham -Baas in turn Archie Gray. Kevin Danso climbed the hoardings. Richarlison drove his back.
Heung-Min Son, such as Guglielmo Vicario, fell physically and emotionally on the ground. Dominic Solanke tried to stir him. And those were just those who had played. James Maddison led the crowd. Dejan Kulusevski waved his crutches in the air.
A full ninety minutes after the last whistle and the son, a player who has given everything for the club and now has something to show for it, was still posing with the trophy. Mathys Tel and Lucas Bergvall gathered the glitter. Ben Davies Nam Selfies.
The famous quote attributed to former Tottenham attacker Steve Archibald argues that team spirit is an illusion spotted in the aftermath of the victory. Only illusion. A victory. After 17 trophy -free years, good teams and bad, waiting is over and a weight is canceled.
At 15 kilograms, the old UEFA Cup is indeed the toughest trophies in Europe, and Boy came up with these two teams with luggage. But it is Spurs, 53 years after Alan Mullery who was the first man to lift the thing, who finally won a game when it mattered the most.
What was so impressive was the way of it – as incompatible as it seems that this was far from a classic final. The conventional wisdom was that this team – this football club – lacked the belief to dig in. Counter voltage would be their enemy.
Instead, a side that has lost 21 Premier League matches and admitted that a dozen equal goals were chased to hold on to their clean slate. This version was anything but Spursy – something that was referred to rather multi -tractors by both son and vicario.
It was almost cunning. Yves Bissouma was booked for postponing a restart. Destiny Udogie delayed the time. Rodrigo Bentancur insisted on a glacial vicario to slow the lake. Richarlison played on the edge. Cristian Romero played Harry Maguire as a violin.
None of that is intended as criticism. It showed a maturity that was not expected. “It's just who we are, size.” That line was originally pronounced to explain the persistence of Postecoglou with a high line of defense, even when it was reduced to nine players against Chelsea last season.
This was something else. Shorn of the Flair of Maddison and Kulusevski, his team showed a new side. Postecoglou's memorable line after this? “I am a winner, size.” Ready for him, perhaps, considering that record of the second season. But not from traces. Not so far.
It has become a time for such things, habits broken, shift stories. In the English cups, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace have long waited to win. But Tottenham's triumph can be more than just catharsis. It has the potential to transform.
Stop the next stop Udine for the UEFA Super Cup against the winners of the Champions League. From there a return to Europe's Premier Club competition and the wealth that entails. The emotional reaction of the son felt like an end, but this can also be a new beginning for this side.
Some had speculated that the Race of Postecoglou was run anyway and there were certainly times during the most miserable competition campaigns when the Australian seemed not only seemed to have lost for the job, but also for football itself as a sport.
And yet the tone is always challenging challenging. Postecoglou is not a clown, this was not a circus and he wants everyone to know. “I don't feel that I still completed the job,” he answered when he was asked what the future entails for him. “We are still building.”
That is far from obvious, but such moments have a way to reformulate things. Of the 15 players who appear in the final, the only son older than 28 is. Most can still consider their career as an upward route. And Spurs can now add to that team.
Postecoglou is determined that injuries have explained their struggles and although that does not apologize how bad his team has been, it is worth noting that the back five that United Tartte, no Premier League match started together in more than six months.
There is, it appears that something is going on here and Postecoglou is undoubtedly of the opinion that after the end of that 17-year drought he has earned the right to become a builder. What is even more important, there were drawing – in the game and then – those players are believing that too.
It was clearly in the warm hug on the field. It was there when Vicario and Danso were talking about doing their bosses. Perhaps something was forged in Bilbao and it was a feeling that this group will want to experience again – together.
While Postecoglou drank in the cheers of the crowd, tapped his fists, it was clear that he had given these fans for a moment that they had desired for a generation. No one, not Mauricio Pochettino, not Antonio Conte, not Jose Mourinho, had done that.
After all those years of promise without the payment, all those philosophical inventions, it finally came when the hope was blurred when they thought they could have lost their way. Well, maybe football needs a new clou because they are almost men, no more.
Guys, it's Tottenham. Winners of the Europa League. Winners, again.