crucial games in the English Premier League. The buildup leading to last Tuesday’s game between Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City was so charged even many back here made it their main agenda. By the way whether we like it or not the English Premiere League is followed here by many times more people than we’d have thought. Not that you put both teams on the same level of skills and team organization as Spurs a once upon a time great team has been in steep nosedive for quite a long time. The result of this game heavily affect Arsenal’s chances of winning the season’s EPL cup. That, dear readers, decided the emotional narratives. If spurs win it would have been all smiles in Arsenal’s camp as they would have advantage over Man.
Now the talk was more about the reactions of sections of Spurs fans rather than the fight their team would keep up. You would expect that majestic stadium reverberating with the loudest of noises you seldom hear. Yes there were noises of Spurs fans but there were also noises and actions caught on camera fans cheering City! Such a story would have been sense if the fans had some issues with their own club and they wanted to make themselves heard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that. A win for Spurs would have benefited archrivals Arsenal and boosted their chance of winning the season’s EPL cup. But those spur fans didn’t want this to happen and what do they do? They cheer their team’s defeat! I, too, would say embarrassing as many commented. How can you treat your own team as the sacrificial just because you hate your age-old rivals!
But then it gets you thinking. Isn’t this something quite many of us do? I mean being happy over the failure of someone who had done absolutely no harm to us. Such behavior has probably been around for ages and the only difference is that this time, things have taken such a nasty twist that there could be more people who hate your success than those cheering you on. I mean Arsenal had been a wonder team this season and despite iron-hot hatred acknowledge that fact would be what a real football enthusiast does. Spurs on the other hand have a tough homework to catch up if they ever do, that is.
Sadly we are in times even complete strangers who never dealt with you or anything would like to see you suffering the KO life gives you. You would ask how those people would feel once the dust settles. By the way a win for Spurs would have boosted their chance to win in next season’s EPL and their own fans cheer their defeat. One guy wrote on the social media, “How can any fan actually want another team to beat theirs irrespective of what that would mean, they lost the opportunity of possible CL football just to stop Arsenal. It doesn’t make sense to me, as a United fan I still wanted us to win against Arsenal on Sunday even though City could have been champions last night.”
“The last 48 hours have revealed to me the foundations are pretty fragile,” Australian Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou said. The coach, a usually reserved man on the touchlines unlike many other emotional coaches, was all worked up when a fan said to him “Throw the game…”
Sorry to say it but watching spurs fan enjoying their team being pummeled you can’t help thinking “These must be the types of guys who they say are dead from the neck up.” The catch here a win for them would have boosted their chances taking part in next season’s Europa Cup. I mean with your team so close to international competition you’re supposed to be the most anxious person for miles around. But that didn’t happen.
Many Spurs fans wished for their team to lose and they got their wish. But at a very heavy cost to the reputation of the normally boisterous fans. I mean reading anywhere about fans cheering their team’s defeat you’d say it’s either problem of typography or whoever wrote it was an untreatable weirdo! But no; their hatred towards their ‘historic’ rivals was so much so they were willing to sacrifice their own team’s destiny just to see The Gunners wouldn’t anywhere close to the PL cup.
There is this story of a guy whom God asks what he wished. He gave twice of whatever He gave him. So the guy tells God he wants to lose an eye. You might ask why. Well in that case his friend would be losing both eyes. The display of Spurs fans wasn’t only despicable but, something that doesn’t happen often. It might be premature to accuse the players of harboring the same wish of their rivals not taking this seasons EPL cup. But it can’t be denied that though Spurs were good many Arsenal supporters think otherwise. Some even say Spurs golden boy squandered that scoring opportunity in a very amateurish display that raised eyebrows as any player of his caliber would have found that the easiest scoring chance of their entire football career. Now accusing Son of foul play is not easy. But especially Arsenal’s fans are saying he missed it consciously. Next EPL season isn’t going to be nice for Son and his teammates.
In our society, too, there are many of us who are more delighted at the loss of others than at out our own successes.
Have you heard that guy has been booted out?
What do you mean booted out?
He has been dismissed.
You don’t mean it! That is the most wonderful news I heard for the whole year.
“Why are you so happy at him being dismissed? Has he done anything to you?”
“No; in fact we don’t even greeted each other.”
“So isn’t it a little too harsh to enjoy his being unemployed!!
Yes it is harsh! We’re in an age where we seem to have been tuned to applaud all the negative things in spite of the persons or groups having done nothing to us. More times than you’d like to admit you come across people rejoicing at the defeats, losses and falls of others.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 19 MAY 2024