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TALKING TOTTENHAM
DISCUSSION PANEL
On the agenda tonight...
BILLY SHAW canvasses opinions from
across the club on a particular topic.
on the
panel
FERNANDO
LLORENTE
Striker
World Cup winner with Spain
in 2010.
16 appearances for Spurs since
arriving from Swansea City this
summer.
TASHAN OAKLEY-
BOOTHE
Academy midfielder
Under-17 World Cup winner with
England this year.
Made first team debut against
Barnsley in September.
DARREN LEWIS
Daily Mirror
football writer
OSSIE ARDILES
Legendary former
midfielder
World Cup winner with
Argentina in 1978.
1981 FA Cup and 1984 UEFA
Cup winner with Spurs.
The draw for next summer’s World Cup finals was made in Russia
on Friday – and it set up some mouth-watering matches from a
Spurs point of view.
Our England and Belgium contingents will clash in Group G in
Kaliningrad on June 28 while Christian Eriksen’s Denmark face
Hugo Lloris’ and Moussa Sissoko’s France in Group C in Moscow
two days earlier.
In total, 15 of our senior players have represented nations
heading to the tournament finals in qualifying and, while the
squad’s full focus remains on achieving our goals at club level in
2017-18, tonight’s panel believes the chance to turn out on the
biggest stage in world football next summer can really benefit
Mauricio Pochettino’s young charges going forward...
Now that we know the draw for the World Cup next year, what do you
expect our players to be able to take from the tournament?
Fernando: “I think it’s very important and significant for our players
to be there and competing. We have a group of very good players here
and being at the World Cup will be an amazing experience for them.
I feel they can improve a lot from playing this type of tournament
and they will grow more as players because of it. In my case, when I
went there with the Spanish national team to South Africa in 2010,
I found that it gives you more confidence in your game and helps
you to go to another level. For Tottenham, it will be very positive.”
Ossie: “It will be absolutely wonderful for the players to go there
next summer and from right now, I’m wishing them all the very best.
I’d imagine that for most of them it’s going to be their first time at
the World Cup, especially the English guys because they are very
young, so it’s a wonderful experience, an absolutely unique occasion
and it will really benefit the players in our squad. It doesn’t matter
how many very important games you have played in your life, nothing
really prepares you for such a huge event, so I’m delighted for the
players who will be going and of course it reflects extremely well
on our club as well.”
Tashan: “I agree that it’s going to be very positive for our players.
It just shows that Tottenham is a great club to be at because with
the training, it’s improving the players all the time and because of
that, they’re getting picked for their national teams in such large
numbers, especially for England. From my own experiences at
the Under-17 World Cup this year, I know that it’s a very focused
environment when you get out there. You don’t get many days
off – you play a game, you recover and then you train for the next
game so the players will be very focused when they go out there.”
Darren: “I think the biggest point to make about Tottenham’s players
is that they’re already used to the big occasion. Coming through what
was described as the ‘group of death’ in the Champions League and
winning it as easily as they have done shows that they don’t have
any problems competing against the biggest and arguably best
players in Europe, bearing in mind that Real Madrid have won the
Champions League in three of the last four seasons. Also, it showed
that they’ve learned from their experiences against those teams
SPURS AT THE WORLD CUP
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V APOEL FC