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Time of India
a day ago
- Sport
- Time of India
The Year the Sporting Curse Ended: How South Africa, RCB, Tottenham Hotspur, and PSG broke their trophy droughts
The Year the Sporting Curse Ended: How South Africa, RCB, Tottenham Hotspur, and PSG broke their trophy droughts There are curses—and then there are decades-long emotional torture chambers disguised as sports fandoms. In 2025, four of the world's most tormented sets of supporters—Tottenham Hotspur romantics, South African cricket loyalists, PSG dreamers, and RCB devotees—finally tasted the rarest of flavours: victory after a generation of failure, heartbreak, and humiliation. This was no mere collection of wins—it was a collective spiritual cleansing. Each fan base had, in its own way, made peace with despair. Spurs fans could quote Sol Campbell's betrayal and Lasagne-gate with the fluency of scripture. South Africans had seen their golden generations crumble in ICC knockouts with existential regularity. PSG ultras endured more memes than medals, mocked for bottling Europe's biggest prize despite petro-billions. And RCB? RCB had become a punchline so popular it transcended cricket—'Ee Sala Cup Namde' becoming both slogan and satire. But in 2025, the gods of sport blinked. The underachievers became champions. And the hopeless dared to believe again. Tottenham Hotspur – When 'Spursy' Died in Bilbao On 21 May 2025, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the UEFA Europa League final in Bilbao. Brennan Johnson's deflected strike in the 42nd minute was the sort of goal that normally happens to Spurs—not for them. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 年最紓壓的農場遊戲！無需安裝 東加：島嶼農場 立即播放 Undo But this time, the footballing universe cracked open. It was their first major silverware in 17 years. Their first European trophy since 1984. And they had done it while finishing 17th in the Premier League. Ange Postecoglou, the relentlessly optimistic Aussie, engineered a European campaign that was equal parts desperation and defiance. Son Heung-min, now club captain and cult deity, summed it up with quiet satisfaction: 'Let's say I'm a legend.' The bottle jobs had finally bottled the right thing. South Africa – Test Cricket's Ultimate Redemption Story South Africa's sporting trauma is well-documented. From the '99 semi-final run-out to Duckworth-Lewis disasters, they have been cricket's perennial heartbreakers. But at Lord's in June 2025, they rewrote history. Aiden Markram scored 136. Kagiso Rabada ripped through Australia with 5 wickets. And Temba Bavuma, injured and unyielding, guided them to victory in the World Test Championship final. It was their first ICC title since 1998. But more than that—it was the moment the word 'chokers' was put to rest, not with a whimper, but with five days of clinical, purposeful cricket. Paris Saint-Germain – More Than Just Oil and Illusion For years, PSG were the bloated cartoon villain of European football. Too much money. Too little heart. Neymar rolled. Messi wandered. Mbappé ran. But in May 2025, they demolished Inter Milan 5–0 in the Champions League final. Not with galácticos, but with a coherent, hungry squad led by Désiré Doué and Senny Mayulu—homegrown talent replacing high-priced ego. Luis Enrique deserves credit for turning a vanity project into a functioning team. PSG weren't just winning—they were playing as if the badge finally meant something. This wasn't bought. This was built. Royal Challengers Bengaluru – The Joke That Became Justice RCB fans are made of tougher stuff than most. Since 2008, they've watched their side flirt with glory and fall apart like a Netflix series in its third season. The IPL trophy was always somewhere else—never in Bengaluru. Until 3 June 2025. Virat Kohli, after 18 years of being Indian cricket's lightning rod, lifted the trophy at last. RCB beat Punjab Kings in a nervy final, sealed by Krunal Pandya's tight death overs and a disciplined team performance. The viewership broke records—169 million watched RCB's pain finally pay off. For once, 'Ee Sala Cup Namde' was not a meme. It was fact. What Tied the Triumphs Together What ties these four unlikely triumphs together isn't luck—it's the slow, brutal process of rebuilding under pressure, mocked all the way. Each team had suffered for years, sometimes decades, with fan bases more familiar with memes than medals. But in 2025, they didn't just show up—they matured. Structural patience paid off: Spurs moved past their inferiority complex, South Africa stopped choking when it counted, PSG stopped buying stars and built a system, and RCB finally played like a team rather than a collection of YouTube highlights. These weren't flukes. They were the result of coherent leadership, balanced squads, and the rarest thing in sport—composure when it actually matters. Each of them rewrote their narrative in the one place their ghosts always emerged: the final. The Verdict 2025 was the year failure took a holiday. The year the memes were buried and the tears finally turned into beer showers. Spurs, South Africa, PSG, RCB—teams with cursed histories, mocked fan bases, and scarred legends—finally got their happy endings. Not because the universe owed them. But because they all, somehow, got their act together when it mattered most. And maybe, just maybe, hope is a better strategy than it gets credit for.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'It can't all come from the manager'
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says it's not just down to Mikel Arteta to respond to the club's near misses in the right way, responsibility also lies with the told Match of the Day 2: "Being the bridesmaid so often is the worst feeling in football and it takes a special group to come back from having that happen repeatedly, and win. I was lucky because I was part of a special group of players at Arsenal, but we still had to work on it."In the summer of 2001, Arsene Wenger brought in a psychologist who said to us that we were second best because the statistics proved we were. We weren't very happy about that, but then he told us that he did not believe that the statistics were telling the truth."He looked around the dressing room and said we have got World Cup winners in here, and you have all won trophies in the past. His message was that there was more under the bonnet, we just needed to find it."It was a clever move by Wenger and the parallels in Arsenal's current position means it is something Arteta could try too, but it can't all come from the manager - it is down to the players to respond in the right way."We did not make big changes to our squad that won nothing in 2001 to do the Double the following season. Sol Campbell arrived and Wenger told myself and Tony Adams that Sol would always play and one of us would be alongside him, but our only other major signing was Everton striker Francis Jeffers."I don't think this Arsenal squad needs an overhaul either, but the question always seems to come back to what they need to do to win trophies after finishing empty-handed again. The answer is usually a new player in a certain position, like a centre-forward this summer for example."I do think Arteta needs to strengthen in a few areas but I think what they really need to be successful is the mindset I mentioned above - so, a really strong group that has got such a burning desire to win that it hurts them to the core when they don't."Read more from Keown on Arteta and Arsenal
