The Loop
Tottenham ball boy baits opponent into yellow card, winks to fans, becomes instant legend
It's been a tough couple of weeks for Tottenham Hotpsur. First they lost goal factory (and avid golf nut) Harry Kane to an ankle injury, followed by midfield phenom Dele Alli to a hammy. Then they got dumped out of two cup competitions in four days and celebrated the one year anniversary of the LAST TIME THEY SIGNED A NEW PLAYER. Oh, and then there's the matter of their new billion-dollar stadium and future NFL groundshare which was supposed to open back in September...and still hasn't. But while the club's heroes may not have been on a pitch that isn't theirs on Wednesday night, a new one emerged as Spurs stormed back to win 2-1 with two goals in the final 10 minutes:
The ball boy.
Up 2-1 halfway through stoppage time, the ball rolled out for a Watford throw, at which point the ball boy leisurely picked up the necessary item and began strolling in the opposite direction of Watford forward Isaac Success (real name), pretending not to see the large adult man sprinting at him shouting lovely British obscenities. Success, obviously not in the mood to be a punked by a 15-year-old, then smacked the ball out of the ball boy's hands, earning himself a yellow card and burning more clock in the process. As the referee inked Success's name in his book, the camera panned back to the ball boy just in time to catch him winking at fans and Spurs players alike. Even ol' Martin Tyler, who's been around the cul-de-sac a time or two (million), couldn't help but chuckle.
Thanks to the heroics of this teenager, Tottenham emerged unscathed—one of just two top-six Premier League teams to do so this week—closing the gap on second-place Manchester City to two points and league leaders Liverpool to a still probably insurmountable seven points. Remind us again: Harry Kane who?