COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Did you know that their
2-1 loss in the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game
was Tottenham Hotspur’s
first official preseason match
of the summer?
No kidding. And there are only 10 days left until the kickoff to their English Premier League season at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
Here's why: in England, Spurs apparently don’t count training scrimmages as official friendlies and they don’t go by “Tottenham Hotspur” in those matches. Instead,
they've been a “Spurs XI”
against the likes of Southend, Brentford and Peterborough United earlier in July.
So no wonder star forward Harry Kane called Wednesday’s match against the best of MLS “our first tough game in preseason.”
"I think we probably could’ve done better,” Kane admitted after the match. “It was a tough game. They [MLS All-Stars] nicked it in the end and I say, fair play to them. It was a great experience to take back to England…and we’ve got to use it to our advantage.”
Wait, the MLS All-Stars nicked it? That might be ignoring the fact that the MLS side started strong with two shots in the opening two minutes, took a 2-0 lead midway through the first half and also ended the stronger side in the final 10-15 minutes of the match.
"We’re not happy to have lost today,” manager Mauricio Pochettino said in his
postgame press conference
. "But given the conditions that we find ourselves in and our situation [in preseason], I think it was a game that we could have won for the chances we had. We didn’t have luck in front of goal. But we can take away a lot of positive aspects from today. The most important thing is to start the Premiership in the best way possible.”
That lack of luck in front of goal? It has a name: Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who made two stunning stops on Kane despite being hobbled by an MCL contusion which nearly kept him out of the match.
But Kane, who eventually got Spurs’ only goal of the match before halftime, cited the altitude, heat and humidity as factors in his club’s struggles on the night.
“Sometimes you caught yourself catching your breath,” he said. "But that’s part of preseason and that’s what we’re here for – to get fit and take this back to England and hopefully use it to our advantage."
They need all the help they can get. Up next: world powers
Real Madrid at the Audi Cup
next Tuesday in their second official match of the preseason.
