The rise of Dimitar Berbatov
A number of years ago I sat down to watch what proved to be a fairly dull evening of football. Liverpool were playing German side Bayer Leverkusen in the 1st leg of their Champions league Quarter Final.1st legs of these games tend to be standard fair, the home side tries to establish a lead, the away side plays off the break to try and keep themselves in with a shout for the 2nd leg.
This particular game was a fine example of the pattern. Liverpool were trying to build a lead to take to Germany, Leverkusen played a defensive formation with just the one man up front in order to try and create something on the break. The man up front would be alone with little support most of the night, working as hard as he could to try and give the defense a break, but some time, run down the clock to make it more difficult for the home side to score.
On this night the man up front was not even a first choice striker, they were aving their main men for the second leg. I recall thinking their lead striker would make a great name for a Robot Wars Robot. Entering the arena, and now from Leverkusen ... BERBATOV!!! With Jonathan Pierce then telling us about the robots attacking weaponary and obvious weaknesses. Dimitar Berabtov was that nights man to play up front alone, working tirelessly for no reward, a bit like a robot really. only to be dropped for the second leg. As it turned out Liverpool only won 1-0, Leverkusen went through two weeks later, and Berbatov have done his job for the night.
Little then did we know that a few years later the saem Dimitar Berbatov would be right here in England, being bought by Manchester United for over £30 million as a top rated superstar player. He re-created himself after signing for Tottenham as a top goal scorer and brilliant technical player. From being a small squad player at Leverkusen he suddenly became Tottenham's top striker, and now a few years on he will be back in Europe's top competition not as the lone man up front in a team trying to retrict first leg damage, but as a star in his own right. Jonathan Pierce may also be doing the commentary, in days where Berbatov need not be a robot anymore.
Only time will tell of course if he actually delivers, but the story of Berbatov, a little known Bulgarian who has become a superstar, a man who learned his trade by doing his bit for the squad in his earier days, is an example for all youngsters who want to get into football.
