Jordan Posted 16 February 2007 Share Posted 16 February 2007 I watched earlier today. That game took place a few years before I became a Leicester fan, and of that match, I had only seen a video of Steve Walsh's second, and game-winning, goal before today ("Leicester City are in dreamland now!" ).Anyway, there's a little bit of personal serendipity in that match... you see, the main reason why I started following Leicester City in the first place was because, at the time when I started watching the Premier League, they had American goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The Leicester-Derby playoff final also featured an American--Derby midfielder John Harkes, a former captain of the U.S. national team. In what looks to be the 84th minute of the game (the video quality is not great so it's hard to read the time in the upper-left corner), a ball is sent into the Leicester box and misplayed by a defender, bouncing right into Harkes' chest... he's all alone with just Kevin Poole to beat! Harkes shoots with his left foot... HAHAHA! It's an absolutely comical miss! He scuffed a harmless roller well wide of Poole's left-hand post, twisted up, lost his balance and then fell right on his ass. I think we all know what happened after that! Who knows how much things would have been different if Harkes showed a modicum of poise when he had the Premier League and potential Derby folk-legend status at his feet? Would the heartbreak of three successive playoff final losses have been too much for Brian Little and Leicester City, and how long would it have taken the Foxes to finally break into the Premier League? The topsy-turvy events of the next two seasons would have never happened... and Leicester City may have never signed Mr. Keller, and I may never have developed my transatlantic love affair with the Foxes, the best 17th-place-in-the-second-tier club there has ever been. So, John Harkes is now an assistant coach with the New York Red Bulls. If I happen to bump into him at a game or soccer-related event in the NY metro area, I'm going to shake his hand and say, simply, "Thank you." (He'll probably give me a strange look and think, "For what?") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placidcasual Posted 16 February 2007 Share Posted 16 February 2007 Funny you should mention that. Bumped into him at Columbus a couple of years ago when DC were in town. He was doing the tv or something. We were in the middle of a manager out demo. Shouted over to him. "John, do you remember missing that chance in the playoff final against Leicester?" Harkes "Like it was yesterday" Me "On behalf of all Leicester fans I would like to thank you" Harkes storms off muttering. Guffaws of laughter all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarby Posted 16 February 2007 Share Posted 16 February 2007 thnak yourself lucky Jo nice story placid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.