Youngsters start well in German tournament

Our Academy side got off to a winning start at the Under-19 Oberndorf tournament in Germany on Friday afternoon, defeating reigning champions SC Freiburg 1-0.

Kicking-off in Group A, which also includes Team Schwarzwald and Red Bull Salzburg, we dominated the early play in the 25-minutes-each-way contest and fashioned a marvellous opener on 19 minutes.

Dilan Markanday, coming in from out wide, played a clever one-two with Dylan Duncan, then did likewise with striker Troy Parrott before sending a first-time ball through for Armando Shashoua, who produced an equally crisp finish.

Parrott saw a couple of chances go begging later on while our control of the game waned a touch when defender Brooklyn Lyons-Foster was ‘sin-binned’ for a five-minute period, but we dug in to see out an important win.

The result continues a positive trend in pre-season under the stewardship of new Under-18s Coach Matt Wells, who has been pleased with the players’ development throughout last month’s training camp in Belgium and a handful of behind-closed-doors practice matches at Hotspur Way.

“In light of some of the standards we’ve seen from our Academy players this summer, we asked the boys ahead of this tournament to set a new level individually and collectively at what is a top European competition,” said Matt.

“The first game was tough as Freiburg won this tournament last season but we were dominant in the first half, we controlled it, had all the chances and scored an excellent goal, which was pleasing as it was something we’d spoken about with the one-touch assisting and finishing.

“At half-time we tweaked a couple of things and the boys were very resolute in the period where we were without Brook for a while. There was huge pressure but we defended solidly and showed a different side to our game to see it out.”

With two matches to come on Saturday against Team Schwarzwald (11.30am local time) and Red Bull Salzburg (3.45pm local time), Matt is expecting the players to maintain their level of performance while looking to improve even further.

“The mentality, belief and intention is key,” he said. “It’s not just about liking the idea of winning but committing as a group to making us win. Today was the first hurdle, we passed that test but now we have to back it up tomorrow.

“You have to be in the top two to go through and it’s demanding physically out here with 35-degree heat. We have a tough game against a local team full of some of the best Under-19 talent they have to offer out here, then there’s a real tough one against Red Bull Salzburg later in the day. If we can sustain our mentality for the whole tournament, that will help to dictate where we finish.”

Spurs (v SC Freiburg): De Bie, Tainio, Hinds, White, Walcott, Lyons-Foster, Markanday (Pochettino 49), Duncan, Parrott (Mukendi 50), A Shashoua (Roles 45), Bennett.