The self-aggrandizing, greedy Sheriff of Nottingham most people would have heard of, for sure. Sheriff Pat Garrett of \u2018Billy the Kid\u2019 Western lore and fame most of us would have heard of, too, while Eric Clapton\u2019s sheriff who was shot, although insistently not the deputy, some of us would also have heard of, but Sheriff Tiraspol\u2026??<\/p>\n
Anyway, suffice it to say that 11 totally unheard-of players from an almost unheard-of team, from one of the poorest, still unheard-of countries in the world, absolutely stunned the football world by comfortably pulling off the greatest shock so far in Champions League history yesterday, to put it mildly.<\/p>\n
Well, for certain now the players \u2013 at least those who scored \u2013 will forever be remembered and be eternally commemorated in European football annals for the amazing, incredulous feat they pulled off against the most famous serial-winning team in the Champions League.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Tiraspol <\/em>(remember that name), from the self-declared independent state of Trans-Dniester<\/em> \u2013 a self-declared new state, with a name that oddly sounds more suitable for a new Covid-19 vaccine, that remains unrecognized by the international community and with its own currency which sits outside the international banking system and cannot be used or exchanged outside its borders<\/em> \u2013 stunned 13-times European champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night as they snatched totally unexpected glory with a dramatic 2-1 victory with a late strike from the visitors\u2019 Sebastien Thill.<\/p>\n It was calamitous. It was disastrous. It was riotous. All only for the Spanish juggernauts Real Madrid, that are supposedly still standing tall, mighty and arrogant after the on-going descent of Barcelona into the murky mires of an abyss. To be humbled, in fact humiliated, so blatantly and so casually, by a bunch of total unknowns from an unheard of land, but yet an undeniable harsh reality, is something the Madridistas are compelled to cope with now while thirsting and plotting to exact revenge for this shameful debacle.<\/p>\n For the benefit of the historically- and politically-uninitiated, football club Sheriff Tiraspol hail from Trans-Dniester, a tiny area bordering Ukraine, which declared itself independent from Moldova \u2013 itself an impoverished country, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, which formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 following a short but bitter war in 1992.<\/p>\n Jasur Jakhshibaev from the Sheriff\u2019s department headed his unknown team into the lead in the 25th minute, stunning all and sundry watching the proceedings, but Los Blancos desperately drew level through a second-half penalty from Karim Benzema, conceded after a VAR review.<\/p>\n Midfielder Sebastien Thill scored an outstanding late half volley to snatch an unlikely victory for Sheriff, who reached the Champions League group stage for the first time this season after winning four qualifying rounds.<\/p>\n Real had 30 shots on goal and 11 on target while keeping 67 per cent of possession and winning 13 corners while the Moldovan side had only four attempts, scoring two of their three shots on target and failing to win a single corner.<\/p>\n Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was almost at a total loss for words to account for how his side were shocked 2-1, at home, no less, by rank outsiders Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League after dominating the match.<\/p>\n “Everything went well for them while everything we did turned out badly,” Ancelotti said after his side’s first defeat of the season.<\/p>\n “More than worried we are sad. We played with intensity and commitment but lost due to the finest details. The team played well, we could have been sharper in the area but it’s difficult to explain what happened.<\/p>\n “The small details cost us the game and we should learn from that in the future. A corner kick, a stupid foul – they cost you and now we talk about a defeat we didn’t deserve.<\/p>\n “We’ve missed out on three points and the group is wide open. We need to win our next game.”<\/p>\n Sheriff, who were founded in 1997, are now top of Group D with six points, after beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in their opening game.<\/p>\n “I dreamed of winning in the Bernabeu, I have always followed Madrid they are the most successful team in the Champions League so to beat them at home is a huge achievement,” said Sheriff defender Gustavo Dulanto.<\/p>\n “There’s still a long way to go and we can’t relax because there’s no logic in football, as today’s result shows. We came here with the knife between our teeth but we can only look forward to the next game.”<\/p>\n Captain Frank Castaneda revealed his side had actually fancied their chances before kickoff.<\/p>\n “We knew we could win here and before the game we had it in our heads that we could and as captain I tried to motivate the team and tell them we could do it because this is football,” he said.<\/p>\n “Real Madrid is an historic team but on the pitch it’s 11 players versus 11 and we came here to get the victory and got it.<\/p>\n The visitors, though, snatched all three points with just a minute left when Thill drove the ball into the top corner from 20 yards to leave the home crowd in silence.<\/p>\n It is now two wins out of two in Champions League Group D for Sheriff Tiraspol.<\/p>\n Now, after the colossal win, Trans-Dniester \u2013 the tiny state with a rather unsavory reputation for organized crime, smuggling, and corruption \u2013 and its capital football team will never remain unknown or unheard of anymore. That’s a guarantee.<\/p>\n They will always have something to be truly proud of, the humbling of the most successful and proudest football aristocrats in European history. The \u2018big\u2019 boys will surely be hanging their heads in shame and bewilderment even now as the shock of their humbling begins to finally sink in as the beers are furiously tossed back in anger and denial in pubs, dens and homes in the Spanish capital. Florentino Perez\u2019s invincible galacticos have finally tasted humble pie and this time it\u2019s with the pie right smack in their faces as well. As a naughty aside, PSG\u2019s Kylian Mbappe should be so thankful that he did not sign up for the Los Blancos after this fiasco and their mighty humbling or he could easily have been a part of this shenanigan.<\/p>\n