
'Our legend': Australia football hails Europa-winning Postecoglou
SYDNEY: Ange Postecoglou was lauded back home on Thursday for "inspiring the next generation of Australian coaches" after steering Tottenham to their first trophy in 17 years by winning the Europa League.
Australian football celebrated the embattled 59-year-old's success after Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final in Bilbao on Wednesday night.
Despite that, Postecoglou's job hangs in the balance after a dismal Premier League campaign that has Tottenham languishing near the bottom of the table.
Governing body Football Australia hailed "the three Aussies at the centre" of Tottenham's triumph.
Postecoglou's assistants include former Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak and Leeds-born naturalised Australian Nick Montgomery.
"Congratulations for continuing to break down barriers and inspire the next generation of Australian coaches," Football Australia said in a statement.
Boyhood club South Melbourne FC – known as the "Hellas" – celebrated Postecoglou as "our legend."
"From his early days as a Hellas junior, to a championship-winning captain and coach, Ange has gone on to become a serial winner wherever he's been," the club said on social media.
"His football journey is truly one of a kind."
Greek-Australian newspaper Neos Kosmos said Postecoglou's win was a source of immense community pride, while local politician Steve Dimopoulos said it was a "major achievement."
Former Yokohama, Celtic and Australia coach Postecoglou had consistently said this year that he always wins a trophy in his second season and his words came true in Bilbao.
National broadcaster ABC said that Postecoglou had "silenced his Tottenham Hotspur doubters."
"To some it was a meaningless boast," it said on its website.
"To others it was a delusional symptom of the failure virus that has infiltrated everything associated with Tottenham for the past two decades or more.
"To Ange Postecoglou, it was belief." - AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
32 minutes ago
- The Star
Soccer-Part one complete as Popovic's Australia lock up World Cup berth
Soccer Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group C - Saudi Arabia v Australia - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - June 10, 2025 Australia coach Tony Popovic celebrates with Joe Gauci after qualifying for the World Cup REUTERS/Stringer (Reuters) -Tony Popovic was already thinking about the improvements Australia needed to make for next year's World Cup finals soon after they sealed automatic qualification with a gritty 2-1 win in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Popovic took over as coach last September after the Socceroos made a poor start to the third round of Asian qualifying and has overseen five wins and three draws to book a ticket to North America. "Very, very satisfying right now, I'm sure it'll sink in as the days go by," he said shortly after the final whistle at Jeddah's King Abdullah Sports City. "It's been a very intense period since I've joined and I've loved it so far. We've done the first part, qualifying automatically, and now the next part is to be bigger and better for the World Cup." After beating Group C winners Japan 1-0 with a late goal in Perth last week, the Socceroos only needed to avoid a 5-0 loss to the Saudis to take their place in the finals for a sixth straight edition. They got the job done despite going a goal down in front of a hostile crowd, watching a Saudi player have a red card rescinded by VAR, and conceding a late penalty. Goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who was winning his 100th cap, saved the penalty to ensure that goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke either side of halftime would give Australia all three points. "To do it here in this atmosphere, you've got to deal with the weather as well, and it's not easy to show that character resilience and then quality, to come back and actually take the lead and win the game," said Popovic. "For Matty Ryan, his career speaks for itself and there's a lot more for him to achieve ... but it's a day he'll never forget." Former centre half Popovic was a member of the Australia squad that reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in 2006, a feat matched by Graham Arnold's team in Qatar three years ago. The 2006 squad had flair as well as the famed Australian resilience, and the task for Popovic over the next year is to build a team that can play a bit as well as fight. "We've built a good foundation now, and we want to really get better, get better kick on and try and do something special the World Cup," he said. "We need to play games to keep improving, giving other players that deserve it an opportunity and then we want to be a squad that's much better than what we are now. I think that's the expectation we should have." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Peter Rutherford)


The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Cklamovski hails Harimau Malaya's commitment in 4-0 win over Vietnam
Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski has attributed his players' commitment as the key to their success in crushing Vietnam 4-0 in their second AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Group match at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here tonight. The Australian coach, speaking at a post-match press conference, said it also proved the effectiveness of the training his players underwent within a short period. 'In the first half, we created a good chance, while the players showed their discipline in the second half. I praise their commitment, and they deserve the win,' he said. Cklamovski also cautioned his players not to get carried away by tonight's victory and to remain focused on the Asian Cup qualifiers, admitting there was still room for improvement ahead of the next match. Meanwhile, Vietnam coach Kim Sang Sik conceded to the strength of the Harimau Malaya squad this time, but believed his team still had a chance to seek revenge in the return leg. 'This game, I felt Malaysia was very strong, stronger than before. We had expected their performance to be better than before. 'First half, we did as planned, but in the second half, we lost two defenders, thus affecting our defence,' he said. Malaysia ended an eleven-year winless streak against Vietnam with a 4-0 victory tonight, courtesy of goals from Joao Figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Corbin Ong, and Dion Cools.


The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Rugby-Schmidt backs Gordon's skills but no hints on Wallabies captaincy
FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - England v Australia - Allianz Stadium Twickenham, London, Britain - November 9, 2024 Australia's Jake Gordon in action with England's Will Stuart REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia coach Joe Schmidt has given a glowing review of Jake Gordon's importance to the Wallabies as a player but offered no clue to where the experienced scrumhalf fits in his leadership plans for the British & Irish Lions series. Schmidt, who will name his squad over the next two weeks, has not yet confirmed who will captain the Wallabies against the Lions but an Australian media report said last week it would be Gordon. The New South Wales Waratahs skipper was left out of the squad for the last World Cup by Eddie Jones but his test career was revived by Schmidt and he started all nine tests last year ahead of Tate McDermott and Nic White. "Jake, he's one of the leaders in the group, but so is Nic White ... and Tate McDermott has been a former captain," Schmidt told reporters in Perth. "Jake has a really good skill-set, mature player, very nice kicking game, one of the sharper passes around and he is utterly committed when he's on the grass. "His ability to cover corners and make tackles, involved in the physical stuff he's a multi-purpose sort of player, but at the sharp edge of his game is really his pass-kick, which were very helpful to us last year." The Lions play Argentina in Dublin next week before heading to Australia for seven tour matches and the three-test series in late July and early August. Schmidt said he knew from his time as Ireland coach just how special the Lions jersey was to the players who wore it and warned the Wallabies would really need to roll their sleeves up to be ready for the tests. "They can play in so many different ways," he said of the tourists. "They can be really physical, they can be square and coming at you. They can get you on the edges. They have got the likes of Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan, who are so good in the air that you're going to have to be good there. "We can just try to work as hard as we can, to be as well prepared to understand the threats they're going to bring, and be ready to combat them and also to try to put our stamp on the game a little bit, and take the initiative when we can." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Toby Davis)