Fri 13 April 2007, 12:00
Tottenham HotspurMartin Jol revealed that pride and a determination to keep our fantastic home record in European competition intact made sure we went out of the UEFA Cup with a bang against Sevilla.
Martin Jol revealed that pride and a determination to keep our fantastic home record in European competition intact made sure we went out of the UEFA Cup with a bang against Sevilla.
The Spanish title-chasers all-but put the quarter-final beyond us with a two-goal blast inside the opening eight minutes in Thursday night's second leg at the Lane.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Seville, it meant we had to find four goals and win the second leg 4-2 to progress on aggregate.
It was a mountain to climb but hopes were raised when Jermain Defoe scored with his first touch after coming off the bench and Aaron Lennon added the second within a minute, making it 2-2 on the night and 4-3 down on aggregate with 25 minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, a couple of chances went begging and the scoreline stayed the same.
However, the draw means our record of only losing one home game in European competition stands - ironically enough, to Spanish opposition in a game that also included an own goal, Steve Perryman putting through his own net in a 1-0 first leg loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup at the Lane back in March, 1985.
"That's what we said at half-time - the club had only lost once at home in Europe in our history, so let's play with pride, get something out of it and the main thing was not to lose," said Martin.
"That's exactly what they did because you saw two different halves. I don't think Sevilla created much more, we pressurised them, used all our attacking players and you can say at 2-2 it didn't come off but I still feel if we'd scored the third, we might have done it. Having said all that, the damage was done in the first eight minutes.
"We lost against a good Sevilla team and we have to learn from it. Even in the first leg, we could have scored two more goals and at this level, you can't concede goals like the first one.
"It's half-way through April and we're out of the cups now, but it's been an exciting season.
"The only thing now is to pick ourselves up and do well in the league because I feel we are still in a good position."
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