The ball boy who propelled Tottenham's crucial equalizer against Olympiakos in the Champions League on Tuesday says Jose Mourinho's gesture has "made his life".
A piece of quick thinking by 15-year-old Callum Hynes, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, allowed Serge Aurier to take a swift throw-in which led to Harry Kane's equalising goal during Spurs' 4-2 win that sealed their progression to the knock-out stages on Tuesday night.
Mourinho drew praise on the "very good" ball boy at the end of the game, saying "he understands the game, reads it, he's not just to look at the stands, he's living the game and playing it very well".
But Callum, into his sixth season as a Spurs ball boy, says he was "just doing his job" and he actually did not realise he had helped himself to an assist until he heard the crowd cheer.
"It's all a bit surreal," he told the club's website. "I was just doing my job and I still can't quite believe what happened.
"I didn't even see the goal! I was busy getting the ball that had come off and then I heard the cheer. I turned around and Harry was celebrating. I looked at the replay on the screen and watched exactly what happened.
"You can see from my smile it was just unbelievable. Jose didn't have to do that. It was really nice of him to come over to me. It's made my day, my life, really! I love Spurs and it was an amazing moment I'll never forget."
In his post-game press conference, Mourinho revealed he invited Callum to the Spurs changing room to celebrate, but the teenager revealed he was already miles away from the Tottenham Stadium as he had to get back to Essex ahead of a maths exam on Wednesday.
"The whole way home I was using a torch in the car to go over my maths revision!" he said, although the school later agreed to reschedule his test to the following day.
"We saw Jose go over to Callum," said Callum's mum Keeley. "We just thought it was going to be a high-five and didn't expect any more than that but then both of our phones started pinging!
"The smile on Callum's face! It was such a lovely thing that Jose did to say thanks like that. Callum always says that by sitting on the touchline watching these players he learns so much and takes it all away with him for his own football."
Comments
Post a Comment