Gareth Bale by Worrall Frank

Author:Worrall, Frank [Frank Worrall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781843588337
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2011-10-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

JUST TWO GOOD

The return against Werder Bremen exploded into life at the Lane just four days after Harry’s boys had won at the Emirates. There had been fears among the fans that Spurs might struggle after the mammoth shift they put in to beat Arsenal. Would they be too fatigued to raise their game – even though it was a crunch Champions League clash? Would they struggle against the Germans who had rested some of their players before the match?

There were even doubts if the two stars of the show at the Emirates – Bale and Van der Vaart – would even start the match. It was revealed that Gareth had suffered a hurt shoulder against the Gunners and Van der Vaart missed training the day before the Bremen game to have a scan on his ankle.

In the event, Gareth would make it and Van der Vaart would miss out through injury. Much to Redknapp’s relief, Gareth reported fit on the day of the game and Spurs ran out worthy 3-0 winners over the team they had opened their Champions League group account with in Germany in September.

It was certainly another very eventful night for Bale. He missed a penalty and hit the woodwork twice, but could still afford to smile as his team moved smoothly and easily into the last 16 of the competition.

They advanced thanks to an opening goal from Younes Kaboul, a cracker by Modric and a late third from Peter Crouch. Gareth flunked his penalty just before the hour mark. Modric had been played into the box but found himself upended by defender Felix Kroos. But Gareth’s subsequent penalty was well saved by keeper Tim Weise, who had represented the German national team and was one of Bremen’s few successes on a torrid night in North London.

For Spurs, it represented more misery from the spot – it was their third miss of the season so far after Pavlyuchenko and Van der Vaart had also messed up.

The Sun’s Shaun Custis astutely summed up the evolution of this Tottenham team as their season now started to take shape: ‘Tottenham have grown from Young Boys into men. Back in August, there were real fears Spurs’ Champions League campaign would end in humiliation. They were 3-0 down to the Swiss side, Young Boys of Berne, inside the first half-hour and faced being knocked out of the competition in the preliminary round. ‘But that tie was turned round in dramatic fashion and Harry Redknapp’s side have not looked back to such an extent they have now cruised into the knockout phase with a game to spare.’

Redknapp was beaming after his team had marched into the next round. He was pleased that his backline had kept a clean sheet – their first for three months and 18 games. And he even managed a joke when asked about Gareth’s penalty miss, saying: ‘So Gareth missed a penalty – well, at least now we’ve found something he’s not good at…he’s only human after

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