Totteham Hotpurs was eliminated from the FA cup competition. After a 1-1 draw against Norwich City within a 90 minute grace period, Tottenham is forced to submit to penalties. With this, the opportunity to get a trophy for Jose Mourinho this season is increasingly closed.
In this match, actually Tottenham had excelled in the 13th minute through a goal by Jan Vertonghen. This advantage is not maximized by Jose Mourinho’s squad. In the 78th minute, Tottenham’s goal conceded through Josip Drmic’s feet after exploiting Tottenham’s back line error. Norwich City managed to equalize and forced Tottenham into a penalty shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Norwich City managed to advance to the next round after winning by a score of 3-2. Moreover, along with this defeat, Tottenham’s face was slightly smeared. This happened because of the action of one of the Tottenham players, namely Eric Dier and the supporters of the team.
Eric Dier might feel upset because his team failed to qualify. His frustration peaked when he saw the angry reaction of the fans in the stands. Tottenham fans’ reactions provoked Dier to react. Dier broke through the stands and held direct confrontations with supporters who harassed the stands. Regarding the action, Jose Mourinho said that what Eric Dier did was not the face of a professional player. Mourinho also said that what he did was not part of a game.
Most likely, the estuary of the harassment of Totthenham supporters was the failure of the team to advance to the next round. Because they were unhappy with the failure, the supporters made harassment which made Dier unhappy. In the interview after the match, Mourinho also said that what happened was a result of the harassment by supporters to the Dier family. The brother of Dier happened to be in the stands of the supporters. Therefore, not few who understand the action of Dier as a form to protect his brother who feels harassed.
Dissatisfaction with the fans is something that often happens. Especially if the fans see their team defeated or knocked out in a painful way. As part of the dissatisfaction, fans can act anarchically or make calls that harass the players and coaches. Harassment by the fans, on one hand, is a common reaction in the world of football. But if the reaction is excessive such as harassment to the family members of the players and coaches and various acts of discrimination, of course it is difficult to accept.
Humanly speaking, someone must react violently if abused. Especially if the harassment touches on a very sensitive realm such as about personal relationships, family and race of players and coaches. In my opinion, Dier’s reaction can be a lesson for football fans. Accepting defeat is indeed heavy. Acceptance of a team defeat can be a mental exercise to recognize the strengths of others and see the weaknesses of the team itself. With that too, indirectly the coach and the players will not feel alone in bearing the defeat.
Football is always full of intensity which involves the feelings of the coach, the players and supporters. The processing of feelings when losing or winning is a very important part so that undesirable actions do not occur. Defeat is accepted with open arms and sets the stage for harassment on the other party.
