Romero’s career has gone from strength to strength over the last two years. After being named Serie A’s defender of the year in 2021, the combative centre-half then moved to Tottenham (ESPN).

(Photo by Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

The 24-year-old has been a revelation since arriving in England and has quickly established himself as one of Tottenham’s key players over the course of 45 appearances for the club (Transfermarkt).

It’s been an even more impressive trajectory for Romero at international level, though. Despite having just 19 caps to his name (Transfermarkt), Romero has already won the Copa America and the World Cup with his country.

Romero played all seven games for Argentina out in Qatar, starting all but one of them as the South American side made it all the way to the final.

In an in-house interview, Romero discussed the elation he felt after winning the World Cup with his country and the special feeling of sharing that moment with his family.

He said: “I’m very happy for achieving in one year everything with my country. For me, it’s the best, especially a World Cup. I think it is the most important trophy that I could have won as a player and I am very happy to have won it with my country.

“For us, it was very important, we did it and so we’re happy for everyone in Argentina and for the squad. I was fortunate to have my family with me and that is very important.

“My son, who recently turned one year old, was there, and for me to see him there, excited for me, celebrating next to me, it gave me a lot of strength. Both he and my wife are always there for me, so it’s double the excitement and joy.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Cristian Romero has achieved in a year what most players would spend a lifetime trying to achieve, and he is only going to improve as a player, too. He’s such a crucial part of our defence and is the kind of player we should be building our team around.

The post Spurs star Cristian Romero opens up on how it felt to lift the World Cup appeared first on Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar proved to be an extremely entertaining showpiece and perhaps served as a much-needed distraction for Spurs fans on the back of the club’s struggles in the month and a half leading up to the tournament.

(Photo by Michael Regan – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The Lilywhites were one of the most affected clubs across Europe, having a total of 11 players being involved in Qatar (apart from Joe Rodon who is out on loan), with three players in Ivan Perisic, Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero making it to the final four of the competition.

It perhaps does not come as a surprise that the Lilywhites have been sluggish since the restart with one win and one draw in their two matches so far.

When asked about the difficulty of having to cope with the World Cup, Conte told Football.London: “For us, it’s always difficult. Then the judgement about the manager, depends on the result. It’s normal.

“Then, if you ask me, about this season when we’ve started pre-season when many of you ask how do you manage this season because many players are already thinking about the World Cup and then the first step will be to try and find the solution, to find a way to push the players in the right direction before the World Cup.

“Now, after the World Cup, the question is about the players being mentally tired, physically tired and which is the way the manager has to face it. This is our problem, every problem is for the manager because we have to face the situation because it depends on the result.

“You can work in the best possible way to find the right solution but it still depends on the result, but it also depends on the situation that many, many coaches didn’t want to face in this season because at the start of pre-season we said that this season will be really, really strange for everybody, we don’t know what will happen and blah, blah. That’s true, eh?

“The problem is that someone has already forgotten the difficulty of this season because it will be a strange season, a really, really difficult season for everybody, not only for us.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It is important for fans not to overreact to a couple of bad results. The restart must essentially be treated like the start of the campaign, and it will likely take around five games for teams to get into the stride, which is why we have seen some crazy results across the Premier League over the last week.

The post Conte opens up on ‘really difficult’ problems the World Cup has caused him appeared first on Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Winners

Cristian Romero

The young centre-back is clearly Tottenham’s most obvious winner from the Qatar 2022 World Cup as Romero will be the only player returning to Tottenham with a winners medal around his neck, despite how close his club teammate, Hugo Lloris, came to back-to-back glory as Argentina were victorious on penalties

Romero managed two clean sheets over his World Cup campaign, his performances at the tournament were made even more impressive when it’s considered that Cristian joined up with the Argentinian national team with a hamstring injury (Football.London) and he hadn’t played a match since the injury back in late October.

Romero started the World Cup with only eighty minutes across Argentina’s first two opening games but after his start against Poland, a game in which Argentina secured their ticket to the knockouts, Romero stayed in the starting eleven all the way to the final.

The 24-year-old has now helped Argentina end their 36-year wait for World Cup glory and has forever immersed himself in a moment of history as Messi and Argentina eclipse the achievements of Maradona for ‘La Albiceleste’. 

Harvey White

The winners of this World Cup for Tottenham aren’t necessarily the players who have been there, it’s some of the ones that didn’t.

A perfect example of this is 21-year-old Tottenham academy graduate Harvey White who has had an extended period of attention and time with the first team due the absence of many first-team regulars. White has subsequently undertaken an unusually prominent role in the Tottenham starting eleven in both of the publicised ‘mid-season’ friendlies against Motherwell and Nice.

The Tottenham youngster has become a constant in the Spurs youth teams but has appeared to have struggled to make the leap from the youth squads to the first team, but perhaps this World Cup has worked in his favour and allowed for the first team coaches to inspect White more closely and therefore hand him two starts, in a slightly unusual, forward role.

White is more of a recognised midfielder, but his versatility and age means that Conte clearly feels he can deploy him in various areas of the pitch as the Italian told SPURSPLAY ‘Harvey White played like a number nine, he is a young player that I think is really, really intelligent, he can play in any role’.

Harvey is also known to be a real danger from set-pieces and seeming as Tottenham haven’t scored a direct freekick since Son’s effort against Watford at the start of the 2021/2022 season, White could offer something a little different to Tottenham over the upcoming seasons.

Matt Doherty

Matt Doherty’s time at Tottenham has been an incredibly unusual one as the Irish international joined Spurs in the summer of 2020, when Jose Mourinho was in charge.

The fee seemed as if Tottenham had picked up a bargain at about £13.4 million (Football.London) as the Wolves wing-back had contributed 7 Premier League goals and assists over the 2019/20 season for the West Midlands side (FotMob).

Despite the deal being impressive, Doherty failed to fit into Mourinho’s plans as Doherty only featured 17 times in the league (FotMob) and failed to adapt to a less attacking, full-back role.

Therefore, when Antonio Conte arrived it seemed destined for Matt Doherty to be the Italians’ chosen right-wing back, which he was for several months after he finally seemed to rise above Emerson Royal in the pecking order.

Doherty scored twice and assisted four times under Antonio Conte in the 2021/2022 season and helped Tottenham push towards the top four until he was then injured by Matty Cash on the 9^th of April (Sky Sports).

The thirty-year-old finally returned to fitness just for the start of the new season, but it had got to October and Doherty had still not managed to work his way back into the starting eleven, even when Emerson Royal wasn’t impressing.

When Antonio Conte was questioned about Doherty ahead of the game away to Eintracht Frankfurt the Italian manager claimed ‘I’m not seeing him in the right way to start the game. I’m not stupid, I don’t want to lose.’ (Football.London)

This quote seemed harsh and in stark contrast to the opinion Conte had of Doherty before his injury. It appeared as if Tottenham’s right wing back position was starting to become a messy situation with Emerson not performing well and fans not impressed, Doherty apparently not being ‘in the right way to start a game’ and Spence seemingly out of favour.

However, when it reached the World Cup none of Emerson, Doherty or Spence had been selected for their national teams, giving Antonio Conte time to inspect and work with each of the different right-sided wing backs.

It seems as though Matt Doherty has been the player who has excelled and impressed the manager the most. Something that would have undoubtedly helped is the fact that the Irishman scored three goals across Tottenham’s ‘mid-season friendly games’ against Motherwell and Nice.

Doherty was subsequently picked for Tottenham’s return to action on Boxing Day against Brentford and despite the game being frustrating Doherty seemed to be one of the more impressive players on the pitch and looked threatening going forward as he created two big chances and made six passes into the final third (FotMob).

It certainly seems Doherty has made the most of his time off and he now should have a crucial few games coming up where he could reclaim his position in the starting team for good.

Losers

Richarlison

It feels strange to claim that a player who has won goal of the tournament (FIFA) and had overall an impressive World Cup a ‘loser’ of the tournament. However, when you look at Richarlison’s time at the World Cup from a Tottenham perspective, it can be hard to not feel a little frustrated.

Richarlison has had a rather stuttering start since joining Spurs, with his match-winning brace against Marseille being his most memorable moment so far, but it seems as though whenever the Brazilian gets going, he’s hit by an injury, and this World Cup appears to have handed the former Everton forward another setback.

Richarlison had a battle for his fitness ahead of the World Cup after he picked up a calf injury against his former club, Everton, back in the middle of October (Eurosport). However, Richarlison did get some Premier League minutes before he joined up with the Brazil national team, even though he didn’t look like he was fully fit and firing when he featured.

Richarlison started his tournament with a bang as he kicked off Brazil’s campaign with a brace against Serbia. Brazil progressed into the round of 16 where Richarlison started and scored in a 4-1 win against his Tottenham teammate, Heung Min Son of South Korea, a clash against Croatia awaited Brazil and as one of the favourites for the tournament, the ‘Selecao’ were fancying their chances to win it.

However, there started to be injury concerns raised about Richarlison’s fitness ahead of their game against Croatia, Richarlison did start the match, but he looked slow and played as if he was carrying a slight knock, he was subbed off after 84 minutes with extra time looming.

Therefore, the ultimate reason why this World Cup hasn’t particularly helped Richarlison at club level is that he is expected to be sidelined for another month as a result of his ‘hamstring injury’ (Evening Standard), Richarlison is likely to miss some crunch games for Tottenham as a result with games against Arsenal and Man City (twice) upcoming.

Harry Kane

The whole of the Tottenham fanbase will be feeling for Harry Kane after his agonising penalty miss against France in the quarterfinals which basically ended England’s World Cup hopes. It’s a painful moment for Kane who is notoriously clinical from the penalty spot, he did miss one recently against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League but before that his misses from the spot were very rare.

As the England captain he has taken his responsibility in the exit as he posted stating ‘it’s come down to a small detail which I take responsibility for. There’s no hiding from it, it hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it but that’s part of sport’ (@HKane – Twitter)

It seems unfair for Kane to be the man who has put England out after the countless goals he’s scored and the perhaps understated impressive performance that Kane put on throughout the World Cup as he ended the tournament with two goals and three assists across the five appearances he made (FotMob).

As expected, it appears that Kane has picked himself back up and is focussed on Tottenham again as he scored on his return to club football against Brentford.

Tottenham’s pursuit of Sofyan Amrabat

Back in January of 2022 the Tottenham squad was significantly weaker and appeared in a phase of transition under Antonio Conte. Spurs had chased Adama Traore and Luiz Diaz for the majority of the winter window (Express), only for both to make eventual moves to Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.

However, as well as a winger/wing back Paratici and Conte clearly had a central midfielder on their January wish list, especially as 2019 summer signings: Giovanni Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele were set to depart on six-month-long loans (Sky Sports).

A player who was a target for Tottenham, therefore, was Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat. Amrabat was highly rated by people within the game as Rino Foschi, a former sporting director, claimed that ‘Whoever takes Amrabat makes a bargain: he will make up for it.’ (Football.London)

Tottenham looked set to sign the Morrocan midfielder as one report stated that ‘Tottenham agreement for Amrabat: only the ‘yes’ of the player is missing’ (Viola News).

However, Tottenham decided to complete the moves for Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur in the final days of the window, leaving Amrabat at Fiorentina.

But now that the Qatar World Cup has been and gone, Sofyan Amrabat’s name is one that isn’t only being mentioned in the same breath as Tottenham but now various top clubs around the world, most notably Liverpool (Mail Online). Tottenham appear to still be interested in the Moroccan after his very impressive World Cup campaign with the semi-finalists (Mail Online).

However, now Fiorentina have reportedly ramped up their asking price to match the midfielders’ impressive World Cup display as ‘Viola’ are now demanding around 40 million euros for the player (Relevo).

Tottenham are clearly big appreciators of Amrabat and it’s likely after his impressive World Cup display that their expectations of the player have been met, but with interest from other big clubs and a high price tag, Amrabat may go on to be a top player at another club meaning Tottenham will be kicking themselves about not making the transfer happen back in January 2022.

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Kane scored twice and provided three assists in five matches in Qatar  (Transfermarkt) but it was the striker’s penalty miss that sent England crashing out at the Quarterfinal stage.

(Photo by Berengui/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

The Tottenham man had beaten his club teammate Hugo Lloris from the spot earlier in the game and was asked to repeat the trick in the dying stages of the game but he blazed the ball over the bar.

The 29-year-old took to social media to accept responsibility for the Three Lions’ elimination and stated that he was proud of his teammates for the way they performed through the tournament.

Souness did put England’s elimination down on Kane’s shoulders but not because of his missed penalty, but instead suggesting that the striker played through injury because he wanted to win the Golden Boot.

The pundit wrote in his column for The Daily Mail: “But England’s other Harry, Kane, was not so good in Qatar. I said he had to have a very good tournament for England to win it. He was poor. Was the reason for that the ankle injury he sustained in the 43rd minute in the opener against Iran?

“They made a big mistake by leaving him on the pitch until the 76th minute. They were 3-0 up, get him off! Especially given his history of ankle problems.

“Sometimes, players need protecting from themselves. It’s about the bigger picture, about him being right for future games. But Harry was thinking about goals and the Golden Boot, instead of thinking USA, Wales and beyond. England paid the price.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Pundits often write and say proactive things that they do not actually believe so that their videos and articles get traction.

I hope for Souness’ sake that this is one such case as it would be a terrible indictment of his understanding of the game if he genuinely believes what he has just written here.

Kane was clearly one of England’s best players in the matches against Senegal and France, despite missing the penalty in the latter.

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The World Cup in Qatar could not have been scripted any better for the Argentineans and Lionel Messi, with the Albiceleste overcoming France in the final on penalties after playing out a dramatic 3-3 draw.

(Photo by Michael Regan – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

It was clear from the celebrations just what it meant to Lionel Scaloni and his players as the South American nation got their hands on the trophy after a 36-year wait, thus sealing Messi’s legacy as the greatest to play the game.

As one would expect, the last few days have seen celebrations through the length and breadth of Argentina, none grander than in Buenos Aires.

Unbelievable, joyous and emotional celebrations in Buenos Aires. Just look what Argentina's World Cup win means.

via IG/alepetra_ pic.twitter.com/5oek57Ux45

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) December 18, 2022

Romero even took to social media yesterday to post an image of the players’ bus top parade around the city.

5 MILLONES , nadie va a poder entender nuestros sentimientos
Gracias argentina pic.twitter.com/F6hrqcguoX

— Cuti Romero (@CutiRomero2) December 20, 2022

However, Thomas has now revealed that the parade went wrong as a few fans jumped onto the bus from an overhanging bridge, which meant there had to be an emergency evacuation of the players.

#Argentina's World Cup-winning bus parade in Buenos Aires abandoned due to security concerns. Fans jumped onto bus from an overhanging bridge. Players evacuated via helicopter. Such a shame, but amazing scenes. All on @SkySportsNews this evening #SSN #ARG

— Lyall Thomas (@SkySportsLyall) December 20, 2022

Spurs Web Opinion

Romero and his teammates will likely continue their celebrations through the week and who can blame them? It could take them a couple of weeks to come down from the high of Sunday night, which is why the centre-back seems unlikely to feature in the Boxing Day clash against Brentford.

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Argentina and France produced what was the most memorable World Cup final in memory, with Romero and Lloris putting their friendship on the back burner for the evening.

(Photo by Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

In fact, the centre-back even left an elbow on his Spurs captain at the start of the game when the goalkeeper came out to collect a ball.

The encounter went to a penalty shootout after finishing 3-3 at the end of extra time as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe lit up the Lusail Stadium with some magic.

In the end, Lloris was unable to make history by becoming the first captain in history to lift back-to-back World Cups as the Albiceleste emerged winners in the shootout, getting their hands on the trophy after 35 years.

Romero took to social media after the win to state how proud and thankful he is at being Argentine.

Lo logre , gracias a la vida por ser argentino pic.twitter.com/dvSLCHC619

— Cuti Romero (@CutiRomero2) December 18, 2022

Spurs Web Opinion

The patriotism that Argentines have always hits a little differently. It was evident throughout the tournament just how desperate Romero and co were to win the cup for Lionel Messi. The final itself was worthy of the tournament as the game was full of unbelievable quality and drama.

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There was plenty of drama at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar on Saturday as Harry Kane was tasked with beating his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris from the spot for the second time in the 84th minute to draw England level.

(Photo by Visionhaus)

However, unlike his first penalty of the evening, which the 29-year-old smashed into the top corner, he blasted his second one over the bar, which meant the defending world champions progressed to the final four at the Three Lions’ expense.

It turns out that Spurs subsequently sent out an email that should have only gone out had England beaten Les Blues. The Mirror have revealed that the heading of the email read: “A world-class venue for World Cup screenings”.

The text then continued: “Watch England in the World Cup Semi-Final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Experience the excitement and drama of a World Cup Semi-final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With a place in the Final at stake, England’s date with destiny awaits on Wednesday 14th December, 7 pm KO. Will Gareth Southgate’s men make it to a first World Cup Final since 1966?”

Tottenham Hotspur's marketing team, Sent out emails on Sunday inviting fans to watch England's semi-final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. [@MailSport] pic.twitter.com/ScsCjv3lFr

— That's Football! (@ThatsFootballTV) December 11, 2022

The Mirror claimed that this has been the second blunder Spurs have committed in a matter of days after they mistakenly congratulated Richarlison on social media for progressing to the semifinals before deleting the post and expressing their commiserations to the 25-year-old.

Spurs Web Opinion

These are not the sort of errors that you would expect a business like Spurs, who are worth billions of pounds, to be making. Someone in the club’s marketing team would have likely been given an earful after this goof-up.

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After already having converted from the spot-kick to draw England level against France in the quarterfinal, Kane was tasked with repeating the trick late in the game against his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris after Les Blues had taken the lead for the second time.

(Photo by Berengui/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

However, the striker blasted the ball over the bar in the 84th minute, thus meaning that the reigning world champions progressed to the semifinals at the Three Lions’ expense.

Kane insisted after the game that England had the chance to win the game and that the game was decided by fine margins.

He also revealed that he was clear in his thought process ahead of the game regarding what he would do in case he had to take a second spot-kick, and took responsibility for failing to execute it as he wanted.

Watch the Tottenham man’s interview with ITV below:

"We probably created the better chances!"

England captain Harry Kane speaks to @gabrielclarke05 following England's loss to France… #ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/oMx0uaGxK8

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 10, 2022

Spurs Web Opinion

Given how much Kane would have been hurting after the final whistle, the fact that he has fronted up to the camera and taken responsibility, demonstrates the character he has.

While this sort of incident can affect some players for a long time, I am not worried about that being the case with Kane, given how mentally strong he is.

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In many ways, both the Three Lions and Les Blues will be ruing the fact they are playing each other relatively early in the tournament, with both teams having been among the best on show in Qatar so far.

(Photo by Visionhaus)

Both France and England boast amazing firepower in the forward areas and there are several interesting threads in the encounter, including Spurs captain Lloris facing off against the club’s vice-captain Harry Kane.

It is not just Kane that has shared a dressing room with the France skipper, with Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier and Walker also knowing the goalkeeper well. Walker admitted that he has plenty of respect for his former Tottenham teammate from the time they shared together in North London.

When asked about Lloris, the England right-back told said in the pre-match press conference (via Guardian’s YouTube channel): “As for Hugo, he was my captain at Tottenham.

“I remember when he signed and there was Brad Friedel in net, he came from Lyon. He’s always been a great professional and a great captain.

“Nothing but good words to say for Hugo but if he’s watching, I hope you don’t have the best of games on Saturday because I want to take my nation through.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Both Kane and Lloris are ultimate professionals and will only be thinking about doing their best for their respective nations, rather than about bragging rights back at Tottenham.

However, the mind games between the pair will be quite interesting if England do get a penalty on Saturday as Hugo knows the England captain better than any other goalkeeper.

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Despite putting in some impressive displays during the group stages and sitting at the top of the assists charts with three to his name after the first three matches, Kane had come for criticism from some corners (The Sun).

(Photo by Visionhaus)

The striker shut his critics up once again by delivering a superb all-round display in the round of 16 clash against Senegal, even opening his account with a composed finish as England emerged 3-0 winners.

While the 29-year-old was adjudged to be the Man of the Match, Bellingham also starred in the encounter, setting up the Three Lion’s first goal and then kickstarting the move that led to Kane’s goal towards the end of the second half. 

The Borussia Dortmund man spoke after the game about Kane getting off the mark in Qatar and the experience of playing alongside the Spurs star.

When asked about the England captain becoming the nation’s highest-ever goalscorer in tournament football with his strike against Senegal, Bellingham beIN SPORTS (04/12/22 at 9:20 pm): “Incredible, isn’t it? He always delivers for us. 

“I know there was talk about him not scoring in the group stages, but whenever it matters and whenever it starts to get a little bit bigger, he always steps up.

“Like I said, it’s a pleasure to play with someone who has that much quality and that much experience. I am just trying to do my bit to make it as easy as possible for him.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I thought Kane delivered a masterclass, particularly in the second half, with the way he intelligently dropped into space to receive the ball and with his switches of play. The goal will certainly take some pressure off the 29-year-old and free up his mind heading into the all-important quarterfinal clash against France.

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The England squad reportedly have a schedule of bonuses that increases with each passing round, but going all the way and bringing the trophy home would net between £400,000 and £450,000 plus further endorsements and sponsorships.

(Photo by Visionhaus)

Of course, the Three Lions are not playing in Qatar to cash a cheque, as the payments fall short of the kind of levels many of them receive week-in-week-out in the Premier League. The squad will instead be hoping to lift the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Harry Kane and co have a lot of football to play before a potential final though, starting with a Round of 16 clash against Senegal later this evening, followed by a possible quarter-final against either France or Poland.

Spurs Web Opinion:

I’m sure each and every member of the England squad would pay £400,000 and more to lift the World Cup, so the money will not be on their mind. But it’s definitely a healthy pay day – presumably for charity if the Three Lions bring the trophy home.

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Richarlison has made the number nine spot for Brazil his own over the last 12 months and his goal record for the Selecao over the course of 2022 is extremely impressive.

(Photo by ANP via Getty Images)

The 25-year-old proved in the opening group game against Serbia just why he is favoured, netting a brace, which included a brilliant overhead kick. However, despite his heroics, Richarlison has not been short of critics, with many questioning his place in Brazil’s starting eleven

Craig Burley told ESPN FC last week that he would take Gabriel Jesus over the Tottenham man ‘every day’ despite his brace against Serbia while Antonio Cassano described the former Everton man as ‘terrible’ on Bobo TV.

Vickery has now come to Richarlison’s defence, explaining that the Spurs star perfectly compliments the other attacking options that Brazil have at their disposal.

When asked why Richarlison gets the nod to start, the journalist told GiveMeSport: “Because he gives them what they want. He’s like a racehorse wearing blinkers. He doesn’t think about anything else apart from scoring goals.

“They don’t need a player in that position who can elaborate because they’ve got that. What they want is a penalty box operator – simple, uncomplicated and strong.”

Spurs Web Opinion

A lot of fans and pundits seem to have a hard time grasping the simple fact that different players are better suited to different systems. That is why countless players do better for their clubs than their countries and vice versa. 

There is no doubt that Richarlison is fully deserving of the number nine shirt, given his record for Brazil in the lead-up to the World Cup.

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Argentina were staring at the possibility of an early elimination from the World Cup when they lost their opening game 2-1 to Saudi Arabia, with Romero being at fault for one of the goals.

(Photo by Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

The Tottenham man was hooked just before the hour mark and came in for plenty of criticism from the media, with Ole labelling his performance as ‘his worst game’ for the national side.

Romero was left out of the side for the Albiceleste’s 2-0 win over Mexico, with Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez taking his place in the side.

Lionel Scalonni brought the 24-year-old back into the starting eleven for the clash against Poland on Wednesday, in what was a must-win game for Argentina to seal progression to the knockout stages. 

The Spurs centre-back certainly delivered, putting in a typically aggressive and solid display, and he has subsequently been spoken about in glowing terms by the press in his home country.

Ole gave Romero a rating of 8 out of 10 for his performance, claiming that he was ‘focused and on top of’ Lewandowski, barely letting him touch the ball.

Lao Voz stated that the Tottenham man was ‘winning in all sectors’ against the Barcelona striker and added that he showcased ‘the best version’ of himself.

Spurs Web Opinion

Romero was evidently not fit to start the game against Saudi Arabia and was rushed back too early, which is why some of the criticism he received was quite premature. 

The 24-year-old looked back to his usual self against Poland, which is quite encouraging for Argentina, who need the Tottenham man to be at his best if they are to go all the way in Qatar.

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Denmark were put forward as potential dark horses by many people ahead of the tournament, on the back of reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship 18 months ago.

UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

They were favourites to qualify from Group D along with France but never really got going in the tournament, ultimately finishing bottom of the table with one point, managing just one goal across their three games.

Their performance against Australia encapsulated their World Cup campaign as the Danes struggled to break down the men from Down Under and looked defensively suspect.

The shock 1-0 defeat has not been well received back in Denmark, with Hojbjerg being blasted for his poor decision-making. BT handed the Tottenham man a rating of 1/6 and questioned whether he was fit enough to take to the field yesterday.

The publication wrote about Hojbjerg: “DBU’s head of communications, Jakob Hoyer, assured everyone on Tuesday that there was nothing wrong in the fact that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, despite promises to the contrary, was absent and was replaced by Jesper Lindstrøm at the press conference. 

“But after this unusually poor performance – with so many bad decisions by the otherwise rock-solid midfielder – one can’t help but wonder if something is wrong with him. But what?”

Spurs Web Opinion

On paper, this was a fairly easy group for Denmark and I even fancied them to top it ahead of France, who were missing some key players and had not been in very good form coming into the tournament.

However, the Danes were shocked right from the off and Hojbjerg looked extremely off the pace. Perhaps that has to do with the accumulated fatigue over the first part of the campaign.

The silver lining from a Tottenham perspective is that the 27-year-old will now have a couple of weeks to recharge his batteries ahead of the resumption of the Premier League campaign.

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Kane has not found the back of the net in England’s three group games but the Tottenham man has certainly shown his quality in the final third, leading the pack with three assists in the World Cup so far (Statman Dave). 

(Photo by Markus Gilliar – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

The England captain notched up two assists in the win over Iran, producing a teasing cross for Raheem Sterling to tap home in the first half before holding the ball up and playing Marus Rashford in on goal in the second half.

The Spurs star showed his playmaking abilities yet again on Tuesday as he produced a fantastic cross along the ground from the right that found Phil Foden at the far post, with the Manchester City star tapping home England’s second of the evening.

Shearer admired the fact that Kane did not even need to get his head up to look at the runners before delivering the ball across the face of goal.

The Newcastle legend said during the coverage of the match on BBC One (29/11/12 from 20:00 onwards) about the striker’s assist: “What a ball this is. With Kane, he knows. 

“He knows where to put that ball, he doesn’t even have to look. It’s a quality cross. He doesn’t look, not once, because he knows where he would like the ball and puts the ball into that area.”

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The likes of Tony Adams (The Sun) and Danny Murphy (Daily Mail) who were critical of Kane for dropping too deep against the USA, should have learned their lesson. The Tottenham man showed once again that he is a world-class playmaker when he picks up the ball in midfield and has runners beyond him to pick out.

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Wales needed to win against the Three Lions to have a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the World Cup and they defended resolutely in the first half and managed to hold the fort until the interval.

(Photo by Adam Pretty – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

However, the floodgates opened at the start of the second half when Marcus Rashford found the top corner with a free-kick in the 59th minute before Phil Foden doubled England’s lead a little over a minute later, tapping home Harry Kane’s cross at the far post.

Davies was replaced by Portsmouth midfielder Joe Morrell in the 59th minute and the Tottenham man was seen limping off the pitch.

The 28-year-old will have more than three weeks to recover, with Spurs resuming their Premier League campaign with a clash against Brentford on Boxing Day.

Rashford then added his second and England’s third on the night after 68 minutes as Gareth Southgate’s men marched on to the round of 16 stage in style.

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The injury did not seem particularly serious and the fact that Davies will have almost a month to recover before the season gets underway means that there is nothing to worry about. Besides, Lenglet has shown that he is more than capable of covering for the Welshman.

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It was all to play for both teams ahead of the final group game at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, with Group B finely poised after the first two rounds of fixtures.

(Photo by Markus Gilliar – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

The Dragons needed all three points to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages while the Three Lions needed a point to guarantee qualification.

There was a Tottenham reunion ahead of kick-off when the two captains met for the coin toss, with Bale spending the 2020-21 campaign on loan at the North London club.

Football.London reveal that the winger greeted the England captain with a wink before the two players focussed on the task at hand.

After a relatively tight first half, Gareth Southgate’s men exploded into life after the interval, with Marcus Rashdford opening the scoring in the 50th minute with a brilliant free-kick before Phil Foden tapped in Kane’s pin-point cross at the far post to double England’s lead less than two minutes later.

Rashford added another one to his tally in the 68th minute to put the icing on the cake for Gareth Southgate’s men, who will now take on Senegal in the round of 16.

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— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 29, 2022

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Gareth Bale and Wales flattered to deceive in all three matches. The former Spurs man looked quite off the pace, which is not surprising given that he is not playing top-level football anymore.

If the 33-year-old does announce his retirement following yesterday’s result, it would be an anti-climactic end to what has been a fabulous career.

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Lloris’ France and Richarlison’s Brazil are two of just three teams who have already sealed progression to the knockout stages of the World Cup following the second round of group games. 

(Photo by ANP via Getty Images)

The two teams are among the favourites to go all the way and could well come up against one another in the latter stages of the tournament.

If they do, Lloris will likely square up against Richarlison, who has led the line impressively in the Selecao’s two games against Serbia and Switzerland so far.

The 25-year-old has received glowing praise for his display in Brazil’s tournament opener, with his heroics even being compared with World Cup-winning legend Ronaldo Nazario (Jogada 10).

Lloris has spoken in glowing terms of his Tottenham teammate, expressing his delight at the forward shining in a team full of superstars.

The France captain told The Telegraph about Richarlison: “I’m happy for him. He’s probably the least fancied player of the team but he’s a fighter and he showed the part of genius that he has in him.”

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Since Richarlison is extremely physical and is a scrapper, people sometimes tend to underrate his technical qualities.  He showed with his second goal against Serbia that he is capable of producing moments of magic out of nothing, and he will certainly be crucial for the Selecao if they are to go all the way in Qatar.

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After being held to a 0-0 draw by Morocco in their first group game, Croatia needed to respond against the Canadians and they were facing the possibility of an early exit when Alphonso Davies gave the North American side the lead. 

(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

However, the 2018 World Cup runners-up responded brilliantly, with Perisic being heavily involved in their comeback. 

The Tottenham man, who started on the left of the front three, played an intelligent through ball from the edge of the box for Andrej Kramaric to run onto in the 36th minute, with the striker producing an emphatic finish.

Perisic also set up Croatia’s third and Kramaric’s second as he cut in from the left and picked out the Hoffenheim star with a pin-point cross, with the forward taking a touch before slamming the ball home.

Keown lavished praise on the 33-year-old for the part he played in both of Kramaric’s goals.

The Arsenal legend said on BBC Match of the Day (28/11/22) about Perisic: “He (Johnston) did quite well there. He had been left in a one-on-one situation, more than a couple of times now. Perisic is not quite the player he once was, as we know. But he can still whip a ball in.

On the Spurs star’s first assist, Keown said: “Well, we said the door was opening. That passing. They punish you. They are zipping it around. Lovely little movement. Look at that for a reverse pass from Perisic. Then Kramaric comes onto it and tucks it into that far corner, a really wonderful finish.”

The pundit said regarding Croatia’s third goal: “Just look at how empathic this is. Perisic stands up his opponent. He really wants to go wide with this. He just cuts inside. The weight of pass and then look at for a first touch from Kramaric, lets it sit and then rocks it into the far corner. The calmness.”

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Perisic’s decision-making when he is one vs one with a defender on the left is quite sublime as the wily Croat always knows which way to go depending on the defender’s body shape to make a yard for himself. We know that the quality of his crossing is second to none.

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Uruguay fell to a 2-0 loss to Portugal on Monday to complicate the South American side’s chances of going through to the knockout stages.

(Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

However, Diego Alonso’s men gave as good as they got for large parts of the encounter and were close to taking the lead courtesy of Bentancur in the 32nd minute.

The Tottenham man picked up the ball in Uruguay’s half and went on an amazing run, beating three Portuguese defenders and finding himself one on one with the goalkeeper, but he was not able to squeeze the ball past Costa.

The 24-year-old was left ruing the missed opportunity as Portugal scored twice through Bruno Fernandes in the second half to seal their passage into the knockout stages of the tournament, leaving Uruguay needing a win against Ghana to qualify.

Watch the full match highlights including Bentancur’s run below from 13 seconds onwards:

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It was a fantastic run by Bentancur but the finish was extremely poor. The midfielder had the right idea of squeezing it in between Costa’s legs as the goalkeeper was trying to make himself big.

All the Spurs man needed to do was strike the ball along the ground but he lifted it, meaning that the ball hit Costa. One could tell from Bentancur’s reaction that he was angry with himself for the finish as it would have been one of the goals of the tournament had he kept his composure.

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