Michel Vorm played with the the Dutch squad against Brazil at the 2014 World Cup and faced Liverpool with FC Utrecht at Anfield, but experienced the most insane match of his football career in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, where he witnessed a Champions from close by as a player of Tottenham Hotspur. League break that was unparalleled. In conversation with Football zone the former top keeper looks back extensively on that Wednesday evening in May 2019.
By Mart Oude Nijeweeme
It is not that Vorm himself still daily thinks back to the return in the semi-final of the Champions League against Ajax. It is mainly the people in his immediate environment who ensure that the fifteen-time the Dutch International is reminded of this. “It often comes up in interviews,” says Vorm. “I recently recorded something for the program Shirt Exchange, then it also came along. I must honestly say, this was also the most bizarre match I have been to. Maybe the most insane I’ve ever seen. Although the other semi-final that season between Liverpool and Barcelona was also a very special one. ” Just like Tottenham, Barcelona seemed on their way to the final after a 3-0 home win over Jürgen Klopp’s team, but went down 4-0 at Anfield, partly due to two hits by Georginio Wijnaldum.
“Those are competitions of which you think: This is not possible, this does not exist. The match against Ajax was also such a match, ”says Vorm, who functioned as an independent ticketing system in the week prior to the match. “Everyone wanted to be there, whatever the cost. I have two brothers, Eddy and Raymond. Eddy played professional football for a number of years at RKC Waalwijk, but Raymond never felt a thing for football. Until I invited them to London once. They went to Tottenham together, he loved it. Then of course they also wanted to go to the semi-finals. So I went to see what was possible. ” Vorm was assigned a number of cards by the club. In this way he also helped a number of good friends with tickets, Ajax supporters that is. “The great thing was, I could only get tickets for the guest section, so those Ajax players were among the Tottenham fans, haha.”
Michel Vorm’s brothers, Eddy (photo) and Raymond, witnessed Tottenham’s Champions League escape against Ajax up close.
Also watched form the game from the stands. The goalkeeper had been overtaken by Paulo Gazzaniga in the pecking order at Tottenham at the time and was not part of the match selection of manager Mauricio Pochettino as third choice. “But I am someone who always wants to be with everything,” says Vorm. “Just for the team. I was also in the dressing room at half time. You’re trying to spice up the boys. Well, what should you say at such a moment? Of course you try to stay positive, but we knew it was next to impossible. Everyone felt it was done. We were down 2-0, needed a miracle. ”
Vorm saw from the stands how Ajax players booked their flights en masse for the final in Madrid during the match. “That price went up every minute. I am sure that there have been Ajax supporters at our final. I’ve also been offered tickets from supporters who couldn’t get rid of it anymore. I must honestly say that I no longer believed in it myself. In the break I sent my wife a message that she could probably watch the holidays. I would be free three weeks earlier if we didn’t make it to the final. ”
On the other hand, Vorm did have the feeling that the match could turn, if Tottenham would manage to get into the duels more after the break. “Ajax had shown in the previous matches that they had difficulty with that. We got a huge boost from the first goal, but after the 2-2 it took too long. Ajax even got a number of good chances and hit the post. In the end, André Onana’s stretching of time cost Ajax its head. ” Vorm was right behind the Tottenham dug-out, with his injured teammate Kyle Walker-Peters next to him and Ronald de Boer on the other, acting as an analyst on behalf of Veronica was present at the game.
“The stadium collapsed with emotions”, Vorm describes the moment after Lucas Moura’s winning goal. “We jumped over the boarding, ran like crazy to the other side of the field and saw how Ajax players fell over with grief. The whole stadium came to a standstill. It was of course a madhouse for the Tottenham supporters. People wept with grief and joy. During the celebration I walked back behind the goal, but before we got back to the dug-out, the referee whistled for the end. At that moment you also have to do with the players of Ajax. They deserved to be in the final. Ajax had the best team to watch that tournament. Attractive football, lots of young players, then you just deserve it. ”
And yet Vorm cannot suppress that he gave it to Lucas Moura in particular that evening. “Lucas is such a sweet, sincere boy. He always shows his emotions. You are happy for the whole team, but specifically for him. We had a team that had been together for some time, he joined later and hadn’t been important to the team yet. And then you do a hat-trick in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Yes, Lucas has been a club legend all his life. ” For Vorm it turned out to be the most bizarre minutes of his football career. He saw those involved in the club in tears, from the equipment man to the chairman, and was called by his brother Raymond shortly after the game. “He did not know what he had experienced. My brother, who didn’t seem to care about football for so long. That is priceless. That your family is absorbed in your world in this way. They are literally sucked into the energy of the competition. You will never forget those kinds of moments, regardless of whether you like football or not. ”
However, the final never became what Tottenham had in mind. Pochettino’s team hardly claimed the title in Madrid and saw how Mohamed Salah opened the score from the penalty spot after two minutes of play. In the end, Klopp’s team would triumph with 0-2 by a goal in the final phase by Divock Origi. Vorm does not dare to predict whether Ajax would have had a better chance against Liverpool. “I find that very difficult to say. A final is a final. It was not a top match, as finals are often not top matches. We both had few chances, but Liverpool was on a different level that season with 97 points in the Premier League (second behind Manchester City, ed.). We hoped that we could take the luck from the quarter-finals and the semi-finals to the final. Of course we also got away well against Manchester City. In the end, that early penalty kick never made it into a thrilling final. I’m sorry to this day. ”