Postecoglou delivers on second-season promise as Tottenham lifts Europa League trophy

Ange Postecoglou has lived up to the early-season promise he made.

“I always win things in my second year. Nothing has changed," the Tottenham manager said in September after back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.

That narrative has followed him all season yet eight months later, Postecoglou delivered on his word by leading Tottenham to the Europa League title with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t me boasting. It was a declaration ... If we fell short, I was ready to cop it," Postecoglou told TNT.

His stint at Spurs has been “the toughest couple of years” of his career, he said.

“I knew it going into it," Postecoglou told CBS Sports. “This football club has had world-class managers, a lot better-credentialed than I am, and haven't been able to get there, so I knew I had a massive challenge in front of me.”

Here's a run-down of those second-season trophies won by Postecoglou across his career:

In his first job as a head coach, Postecoglou won Australia's top-flight title — the National Soccer League — in his second season with South Melbourne and again the following year.

Postecoglou achieved the same feat at Brisbane Roar, winning the league title — by now it was called the A-League — in his second season and retaining it the following year.

During the second year of Postecoglou's four-year stint with the Socceroos, Australia hosted the Asian Cup in early 2015 and reached the final against South Korea. The Australians conceded an equalizer in stoppage time — coincidentally scored by current Tottenham captain Son Heung-min — but clinched a 2-1 win after extra time. It was Australia's first Asian Cup title.

In his first big job outside Australia, Postecoglou lost the Japanese Cup final in his first season with Yokohama F. Marinos but made up for it by winning the top-flight league title by six points the following year. It was the club's fourth Japanese league championship.

At Celtic, Postecoglou was in charge of the biggest team in Scotland — albeit one which had relinquished its league title the previous year. Under the Australian, Celtic regained the Scottish Premiership title by four points in his first season and retained it — by seven points — in his second season. Postecoglou then left for Tottenham.

Postecoglou has been coach at three other clubs in his managerial career, but never got to the end of a second full season with any of them. He was at Greek lower-league team Panachaiki (2008) for less than a year, with Australian team Whittlesea Zebras for just three months in 2009 and at Melbourne Victory for 18 months — but left at the start of his second full season to take over the Socceroos.

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou lifts the Europa League trophy following the team's victory over Manchester United at the Estadio de San Mames, Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou applauds fans at the end of the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou celebrates after the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou celebrates with Tottenham's Pedro Porro after the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou celebrates after winning the Europa League final soccer match against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou and Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim during the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou speaks with Son Heung-min during the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou celebrates after the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou follows the game during the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou during the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou applauds ahead of the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

MILAN (AP) — A guard at a construction site near a 2026 Winter Olympic venue in the mountain resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo died during a frigid overnight shift, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

Italy’s Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker’s death.

Italian media reported that the death occurred on Thursday while the worker was on duty at a construction site near Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures that night plunged to minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Milan Cortina organizers said that the worker died of a heart attack.

“The information we have is that it was a death by natural cause, it was a heart attack. And we are investigating,” Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, told reporters at a test event at the new hockey arena in Milan.

“All the documentation that we have was in order. And we are waiting for the investigation to understand what the specific cause was. At the moment, the information we have from the emergency services is it was a death caused by natural causes ... while he was on site," Varnier said.

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 6-22.

The construction site was not one overseen by Simico, the governmental company responsible for Olympic infrastructure, the company said in a statement expressing its condolences.

Cortina city officials said they were “deeply saddened and troubled by the death.’’

Cortina will host curling, sliding and women’s Alpine skiing.

Andrea Varnier, CEO Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 talks to reporters at the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, in Milan, where Ice Hockey discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

FILE - People take photos in front of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics rings, in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)