Kyle Walker has praised Hugo Lloris’ leadership and professionalism but admitted that he does not want his former Tottenham teammate to have a good day when England come up against France in the quarterfinal of the World Cup.
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.
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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.”
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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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