A Heartbreaking Tale Of Hope

The Story Of A True Underdog

There’s a story so good I feel I must share it with you. It’s about a soccer team in Spain, and maybe the most gut wrenching, tortuous way to lose.

Before I say anything about the story, let me explain how I came to see it myself. In the first 26 years of my life, I have never been a soccer fan. I may have seen highlights on ESPN every so often, but I never cared for it, and definitely have never put any effort or energy into understanding it. Basketball? Football? Hockey? Even baseball? Yes. I loved them all and followed them religiously. I know statistics, box scores, and jersey numbers from any player I’ve ever seen. But never soccer. It never appealed to me.

This past December I was visiting my family in Israel and staying with my 75 year old uncle on the outskirts of Tel-Aviv. He’s suprisingly youthful for such an old guy. Every night, or most nights, he ends the night with whatever soccer match is on television. As I was sleeping in the living room, I watched with him every night. I was surprised at how much he knew about the teams and players themselves. He knew which coaches and players were elite, where everyone originated from, how much they were getting paid, and a myriad of other information to the extent that I, an NBA junkie, know basketball. I had no idea he had delved so deeply into it. All of a sudden, the game started to appeal to me.

When I got back home from vacation the only games I had on cable were from La Liga, the Spanish Premier League. Initially I started watching every Barcelona match, as they were a worldwide brand that would be easy to follow on television and social media, as well as they were the team I had originally watched with my uncle. After a few weeks though, I found another team which I found far more interesting. Athletico Madrid.

For years the La Liga crown was handed back and forth between Real Madrid and Barcelona. These two teams were global icons, and have spent truckloads of money assembling their squads with names even casual sports fans recognize like Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar. Athletico, who play in the same town as Real Madrid, only a few miles apart, haven’t been relevant in a long time. In fact, almost a decade ago they were demoted to second league for their last place finish.

In the last year however, under the direction of coach Pablo “Cholo” Simeone, Athletico have turned it around.

Simeone, a former Atleti player himself, has described his playing style as “holding a knife between his teeth”, whatever that can possibly mean. He dresses to the games like the villain from a corny 90's super hero movie, almost Pat Riley-esque, with his slicked back black hair, black suit, black shirt, black tie. He is intimidating.

As a fan of the Pat Riley Knicks, the style Atleti play is a throwback. Tough defense. Low scoring. Kill or be killed.

Teamwork and toughness. What’s not to love?

After a few weeks it became clear that there were now three power teams in Spanish Soccer. Behind the team defense, spectacular and seemingly out of nowhere development of goal hoarding Diego Costa, and the ever steady play of keeper Thibeaut Courtois, Athletico Madrid took the La Liga crown, the first time in over ten years a team other than Real Madrid or Barcelona won.

Aside from that, Atleti’s play got them into the UEFA Champions League, which is a tournament filled with the top clubs from across Europe. Atleti dominated the tournament, conceding the least amount of goals and never losing a match. To get to the finals, they had to knock off La Liga rivals Barcelona.

In the finals, Athletico were squared off against crosstown rivals Real Madrid. Out of all of the top teams in Europe, the last two standing had stadiums not even ten miles apart. The distance between the clubs however, was much further.

In assembling the team for this exact tournament, Real Madrid spent over 1.6 billion dollars in transfer fees. Yes. Billion.

Atleti spent a little under 100 million.

Real Madrid had previously won the tournament nine times. They were going for their tenth title. La Decima.

Atleti got to the finals only once in the 1974, and lost.

Real Madrid have global superstars like Christiano Ronaldo and Garreth Bale. Atleti’s team was largely unheard of before last year, or considered past their prime.

The game itself was intense. Atleti’s top scorer, Diego Costa, who had been injured for the previous few matches, hobbled off the pitch after only nine minutes, the quickest substitution in the finals history. Already without their other prime playmaker Arda Turan, Atleti looked anemic when it came to scoring.

They played excellent defense as they always do, but conceded a few chances to Bale and Ronaldo, both who couldn’t take advantage of them. Athletico scored a fluke goal when Real Madrid’s goalie misplayed the ball, and suddenly Atleti were up 1-0 going into the half.

The second half did not go as smoothly for Simeone’s men. Tired, and without any substitutions, Athletico valiantly played defense, and got a little lucky as well, as the clock was running down and Real’s chances at leveling the score were fleeting.

In the last handful of minutes, Real Madrid upped their attack and were putting constant pressure. Time after time, Athletico cleared the ball, and tightened their grip.

As the clock hit the 90th minute, the referees added an additional five minutes of extra play, the maximum allowed, and probably more than this game actually warranted.

After a tiring hour and a half effort in which Atleti blanked Real Madrid, their tired bodies gave in, and in the 93rd minute, Real Madrid found their equalizer.

Athletico didn’t stand much of a chance in overtime. Their team was worn down to the nub. They lost 4-1, after being only a minute and a half away from being European Champions. The odds on them to have won both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League was 6000 to 1 at the start of the season.

That was the absolute worst sports loss that I’ve ever seen. Worse than Reggie Miller’s 8 points in 9 seconds. Worse that game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Worse than the the Giants first Super Bowl (for Patriot fans). This beat all of them. An unheralded team that won by playing together is something I will always buy into. To see them be a minute and a half away from accomplishing the impossible just hurts. I hope that they come back next season with as much vigor, and ultimately win the Champions League. However, even if they don’t, their accomplishments this year have shown me that amazing things can be done with the right attitude.

Aupa Atleti.