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Spurs international watch: Youngster makes senior debut

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As many of you will know, Spurs youngster Jamie Donley is having a very good time of it on loan at Leyton Orient this season. Although the goals and assists have dried up of late, he is still playing nearly every game, for a side that are pushing for a play off spot in League One. Â

Back in January, he was named the EFL young player of the month – an award that covers the Championship, League One, and League Two. He was interviewed about it, his season so far, and his ambitions at Spurs – you can read the transcript of that interview here, with a link to the interview itself within the piece. Â

 In February, he impressed live on national television with his performance against Manchester City in the FA Cup – whilst forcing an own goal with his incredible half way line shot that struck the underside of the crossbar. Â

The 20-year old was born in Northern Ireland and raised in England to a Northern Irish father and an English mother, making him eligible to play for either country. After representing both countries at youth level, Donley chose to play for the Northern Ireland senior team this month, and was called up for friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden. Â

Jamie Donley makes his Northern Ireland senior debut on Friday

On Friday evening, he made his senior debut – coming on as a second half substitute in a 1-1 draw against the Swiss – playing the final 33 minutes of the game. An incredible moment in a brilliant season for him personally. Â

They will play Sweden, on Tuesday, the 25th of March at 18:00 GMT. It will be touch and go whether or not he has the possbility to come up against Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall, with the 19-year old having missed training this week with illness – although manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has said it is nothing serious. We will see if he plays any part in their game against Luxembourg on Saturday first. Â

Either way, another proud day for Donley, it has been some year for him. It will be very interesting to see how Spurs go about his development next season – one would assume he is going to be prepared for a Championship loan, perhaps after a pre-season with Spurs – albeit a pre-season with a loan club could help him to settle in better. The fact he was at Spurs for pre-season last year probably contributed to his slow start at Orient. Â

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Spurs international watch: Mixed night for defender

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On Thursday evening, there were international games played all over the world, in many different competitions. There were games played on Wednesday too, but only a small handful. Thursday was when the first international break of the calendar year really kicked into action. Â

With it, there were a number of games for Tottenham Hotspur players. Yves Bissouma and his Mali side picked up an important win in World Cup qualifying, with the midfielder picking up two assists. Heung-Min Son and Yang Min-hyeok's South Korea side were held to a draw at home to Oman in their qualification campaign. Meawhile, Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie’s Italy lost at home to Germany in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter final action. Â

Also in Nations League action was Pedro Porro, whose Spain side were in action away to the Netherlands in their quarter final first leg. As has been common practise since first choice Dani Carvajal got injured, Porro started the game at right-back for the European Champions. Â

How things went for Pedro Porro and Spain on Thursday evening

After just nine minutes, Spain took the lead – as Spurs linked Nico Williams found the back of the net. However, after 28 minutes, the hosts equalised through left winger Cody Gakpo – with a lot of fans saying that Porro did not get close enough to him, allowing him to find the bottom corner. Â

The sides went into the break at 1-1, but just a minute after the break, the Dutch took the lead for the first time in the game. It looked like Spain were heading into the second leg at home with a defeat, but three minutes into stoppage time they managed to rescue a draw, and the sides will head to Spain with the tie firmly in the balance at 2-2. Â

As for Porro himself, it was another full game completed for him, as his minutes continue to rise in a very intense season for him – albeit he did not play in the defeat to Fulham last weekend. It was definitely not his best performance, as he failed to replicate his impressive displays in the group stage. Â

The aforementioned second leg will take place on Sunday, the 23rd of March, and will kick off at 19:45 GMT. The winners of that will proceed to the Nations League final four to take place in the summer, and will play two games regardless of their semi final result, with a third place play off also scheduled to take place. Â

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Spurs loan watch: Tough night in Italy

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On Thursday evening, there was UEFA Nations League quarter final action for the side of two Tottenham Hotspur players – as Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie’s Italy side hosted Germany at the San Siro, for the first of a two legged tie. This is the first time the competition has had a quarter final stage. Was just thinking football needed more games.Â

As expected, Vicario was on the bench, with Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma preferred instead. However, Udogie got the nod to start as the left wing back in manager Luciano Spalletti’s 352 formation. Â

How things went for Tottenham Hotspur duo in the Nations League

After just nine minutes of the game, Italy took the lead, after some build up down the left side from Udogie and Alessandro Bastoni, the play was switched and they scored from a cutback. That goal was enough to give the Italians a lead heading into the half time interval.Â

However, four minutes after half time, Germany equalised. As the game was in the balance for a while, the visitors then completed the turnaround by taking the lead with just under a quarter of an hour of the game to play. Â

From there, they would see the game out, condemning Italy to a 2-1 defeat in the first leg at home, a very frustrating night from an Italian point of view.

In terms of Udogie himself, he played the 90 minutes, recording; 72 touches, one shot blocked, 2/2 aerial duels won, two fouls drawn, two clearances, one blocked shot, and one interception. With first choice left wing back, Federico Dimarco of Inter Milan injured, the likelihood is that the Spurs defender will start the return leg in Germany. Â

Feels fair to say that the 22-year old has divided opinion within the Spurs fanbase this season. He started the season very well, but since his first injury has not looked the same. To an extent, being overplayed, combined with the intense style of play has definitely played a part. However, just in general possession he has looked a lot sloppier than he did in his first season and at the start of this campaign. Â

Safe to say it will take a big performance from Italy to turn around the tie in that game. To lose at home is pretty tough to take. Nevertheless, they will have that chance on Sunday, at 19:45 GMT, so let’s see. Â

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Spurs international watch: Big win for midfielder's side

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Although there were a handful games on Wednesday, Thursday is when we really saw the first international break of 2025 kick off, with games taking place all across the world, in various different competitions. Â Â Â

On Thursday night, at around 21:00 GMT, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma and his Mali side were in African World Cup qualifying action, as they faced Comoros on the road. Heading into the game, Mali were in fourth place, with five points from four games, whilst their hosts were in second place, with nine points. Â

Yves Bissouma and his Mali side in action away to Comoros on Thursday

As usual, Bissouma, whom is the skipper of his side, was named in the starting XI by Mali manager Tom Saintfiet, seemingly playing in a role off of the right hand side in a 4231 formation. Â

After 20 minutes of the game, Mali took the lead, with the Spurs midfielder providing an assist. That goal was enough to go into the half time interval with a lead to hold onto. Â

Ten minutes into the second half, they doubled their lead. Then, after 63 minutes, they made it 3-0, with Bissouma providing his second assist of the game. With just over te minutes to go, the 28-year old was taken off for some rest. Â

From there, Mali saw the game out, coming away with an impressive and very important 3-0 victory in their first game of the break. They remain below their hosts in the qualifying group, but they are now only one point below, and now have better goal difference to go with that too. Â

Safe to say that Bissouma needed this. He has been really out of form for a while now, and was just stuck in a cycle of not being able to perform. Although a good performance against Comoros in World Cup qualifying does not mean he is definitely going to start performing for Spurs, but he definitely needed a performance like this, that can not be argued. Â

If nothing else, it could help improve his market value and attract more suitors in the summer – with it being the club’s last chance to get a fee for the player, with his contract set to run out in the summer of 2026. Â

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Spurs international watch: Skipper held to a frustrating draw

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At around 11:00 GMT on Thursday morning, and around 20:00 local time, Tottenham Hotspur captain Heung-Min Son was in action for the South Korea national team, as they hosted Oman in Seoul, for Asian World Cup 2026 qualifying. Â

As usual, the 32-year old skippered his national team, starting on the left hand side of a 4231 formation. There was no room for Yang Min-hyeok in the starting XI, with Hee-Chan Hwang of Wolverhampton Wanderers starting on the right hand side of the attack. Â

Captain and his side left with frustration after World Cup qualifier

Just as a pretty uneventful first half looked it was going to have the goalless scoreline to match, South Korea took the lead through Hwang four minutes before half time, which proved to be enough to give Son’s side a 1-0 lead heading into the break.Â

In the second half, South Korea continued to have more of the ball and more territory, but Oman equalised with ten minutes of normal time remaining to make it 1-1. From there, the visitors saw the game out, and picked up an important point. As for South Korea, a pretty disappointing result.Â

Regarding the Spurs players, Son played the whole 90 minutes, recording; 69 touches, three chances created, one shot on target, one shot off target, 3/5 successful dribbles, 6/10 ground duels won, two fouls drawn, one blocked shot, and one tackle. Min-hyeok remained an unused sub, as his wait for his senior international debut continues. Although, it is easy to forget he is still just 18 years of age.

Despite a frustrating draw, South Korea will end match day seven top of the group, regardless of how the other results play out – and they are still well on course to secure their qualification for the World Cup in North America next summer. Without Bayern Munich central defender Kim Min-jae, you always felt like they may have needed two goals to win this game. Â

Next up for Son and Min-hyeok's side is another home game, this time against Jordan, on Tuesday the 25th of March, at 11:00 GMT. If Jordan win their game later on today, they could actually go above South Korea with a win in that game, goal difference dependent. It was actually Jordan that knocked their East Asian counterparts out of the Asia Cup last year, with a 2-0 win in the semi finals.Â

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Five Spurs players named amongst best teenagers in the world

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In recent years, we have seen Spurs put serious emphasis on youngsters with their recruitment. They have signed players aged 22 or under from Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Croatia, France, within the Premier League, and in the Championship.

Some have said the approach has gone too far, and that Spurs need more players in their prime. However, what cannot be denied is that the club have a lot of extremely talented young players, and that could come to fruition in the next few years.

It would appear that media publication GOAL agree with this take, with five players contracted to Spurs making their top 50 wonderkid list - where they rank the 50 best players born on 1/1/2006 or later.

Five Spurs youngsters on GOAL list of current wonderkids in football

At 43, they have Yang Min-hyeok, currently on loan at QPR. The 18-year old scored 12 goals in 38 appearances during his time in the K-League, and has been called up to the South Korea national team for a second time this month, where he could make his debut in their World Cup qualifiers.

Spurs have had a South Korean superstar for the last decade. Perhaps they will have one for the next decade too. If he proves to be half as good as Heung-Min Son has been for the club, then it will be money well spent.

Meanwhile, at 26 they have Luka Vuskovic. Currently on loan at KVC Westerlo in the Belgian Pro League, the Croatian defender has been thriving, both defensively and with a knack for goals at the other end.

Although there is no guarantee he will be kept in the first team next season, Spurs will at least finally have him officially join the club regardless - with a deal having to be delayed until he was 18 due to Brexit rules. Fans are eager to see if he remains part of the squad, or sent out on loan - likely to one of the top five leagues.

Then, at 22 they have Mikey Moore. There has been plenty of excitement and hype around Moore for a while now, who when available has often been around the first team this season - scoring his first goal in a win over Elfsborg in the Europa League.

Some have criticised Ange for not giving the 17-year old more starts - should the Australian depart the club this season, it will be interesting to see how many opportunities he gets next season. Perhaps he will be sent on loan for his development.

Next up, at 16 they have Lucas Bergvall. Despite beig 18 for most of this season, the teenager has become a regular in the team - and last didn't play a game he was available for against Wolves in December.

Although more of a technical player, he is also quite tenacious, and made five interceptions during the win over AZ Alkmaar. He already has four caps for the Sweden national team despite being just 18 when he played those games.

Finally, at 13 - the highest ranked Spurs player on the list - Archie Gray. Just like Bergvall, he turned 19 earlier this year. Despite being a central midfielder, he has played everywhere but there, only making his first start of the season in midfield on Sunday - unfortunately next to the chuckle brothers.

Nevertheless, he has still had a number of impressive performances in defence, and fans are hoping that he will eventually get a run in the team in midfield, giving him the chance to show everyone what he is capable of.

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How the international break looks for every Spurs player

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So, here we are. From Thursday until Tuesday, there will be hundreds of international games taking place all over the world - from South America to Oceania. With it, there will also be several games for a number of Tottenham Hotspur players.

We have covered each and every call up (we think) individually, but in case you missed it - here is a quick round up of how the break looks for every Spurs player that has been called up - senior or youth, at the club or on loan, we've got you covered.

How the next week or so looks for each Tottenham Hotspur player

Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie have been called up to the Italy squad for their Nations League quarter final clash with Germany. The first leg, at home, will take place on Thursday, the 20th of March, and kick off at 19:45 GMT. The second leg will take place on Sunday, the 24th, at the same time.

Pedro Porro has been called up to the Spain squad for their Nations League quarter final tie with the Netherlands. Just like Italy - Germany, both games are on Thursday and Sunday at 19:45 GMT - with the second leg in Spain. Micky van de Ven is not in the Netherlands squad, and gets nearly three weeks rest.

Cristian Romero is in the Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil. They will play Uruguay on Friday, the 21st of March, at 23:30 GMT - and Brazil on Wednesday, the 26th, at 00:00 GMT.

Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson are in the Wales squad for World Cup qualifiers at home to Kazakhstan and away to North Macedonia. They will play Kazakhstan on Saturday, the 22nd of March, at 19:45 GMT, and North Macedonia, on Tuesday, the 25th, at 19:45 GMT.

Ashley Phillips and Dane Scarlett are in the England U20 squad for U20 elite league games away to Portugal and at home to Switzerland. They will face Portugal on Friday, the 21st of March at 16:00 GMT, and Switzerland on Monday, the 24th, at 19:00 GMT.

Archie Gray is in the England U21 squad for friendlies against France and Portugal. They will play France away from home on Friday, the 21st of March at 20:00 GMT, and Portugal at home on Tuesday, the 24th, at 19:45 GMT.

Pape Matar Sarr is in the Senegal squad for World Cup qualifiers away to Sudan and at home to Togo. They will play Sudan on Saturday, the 22nd of March, at 19:00 GMT, and Togo on Tuesday, the 25th, at 21:00 GMT.

Yves Bissouma is in the Mali squad for World Cup qualifiers away to Comoros and Central African Republic. They will play Comoros on Thursday, the 20th of March, at 21:00 GMT, and Central African Republic on Monday, the 24th, at 16:00 GMT.

Rodrigo Bentancur is in the Uruguay squad for World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Bolivia. They will play Bolivia on Tuesday, the 25th of March, at 00:00 GMT.

Lucas Bergvall is in the Sweden squad for friendlies away to Luxembourg and at home to Northern Ireland - where he could come up against Spurs loanee Jamie Donley. They will play Luxembourg on Saturday, the 22nd of March, at 17:00 GMT, and Northern Ireland on Tuesday, the 25th at 18:00 GMT.

As mentioned there, Donley is in the Northern Ireland squad for friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden. They will host Switzerland on Friday, the 21st of March at 19:45 GMT.

Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel are in the France U21 squad for friendlies away to Slovakia and England. They will play Slovakia on Friday, the 21st of March, at 17:30 GMT.

Mikey Moore is in the England U19 squad for their elite round fixtures away to Wales, and at home to Turkey and Portugal. They will play Wales on Wednesday, the 19th of March at 19:00 GMT, at home to Turkey on Saturday, the 22nd, at 11:00 GMT, and Portugal on Tuesday, the 25th, at 19:00 GMT.

Dominic Solanke is in the England squad for World Cup qualifiers at home to Albania and Latvia. They will play Albania on Friday, the 21st of March, at 19:45 GMT, and Latvia on Monday, the 24th at the same time.

Finally, Heung-Min Son and Yang Min-hyeok are in the South Korea squad for World Cup qualifiers at home to Oman and Jordan. They will play Oman on Thursday, the 20th of March at 11:00 GMT, and Jordan on Tuesday the 25th, at 11:00 GMT.

We THINK that's it. Go well everyone.

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Spurs loan watch: Championship round up

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In the Championship, there were games for three Tottenham Hotspur loanees on Saturday. Yang Min-hyeok and his Queens Park Rangers side hosted Leeds United, Ashley Phillips and his Stoke City side faced Millwall on the road, and Will Lankshear and his West Bromwich Albion side hosted Hull City.Â

Two of the games were at 12:30 GMT, and were live to air on Sky Sports red button. One of those games were QPR vs Leeds – where Min-hyeok was named amongst the substitutes. After 17 minutes, QPR took the lead, and doubled their lead on the half an hour mark.Â

However, with five minutes of the first half remaining – an own goal halved that lead, and Leeds were back in the game, with a 2-1 score at half-time. Then, six minutes into the second half, the visitors made it 2-2, as QPR surrendered their 2-0 lead. Â

That would prove to be the final goal of the game, as the sides shared the spoils. In isolation, it is not a bad point for the R’s, but having been two goals up, it must feel very frustrating not to have picked up all three points – even against a promotion hopeful. Â

As for Min-hyeok, unfortunately he remained an unused sub. Let’s hope he can get some game time with South Korea over the international break. This draw leaves QPR in place in the Championship, with 45 points from their 38 games so far. Â

At the same time as that game was going on, Phillips was named in the Stoke starting XI for their trip to Millwall. After a pretty uneventful game, it looked like the Potters were set to keep back to back clean sheets, but in stoppage time – they conceded a penalty, that was duly dispatched, the ultimate sucker punch as they were condemned to a 1-0 defeat.Â

In terms of Phillips himself, another 90 minutes here for the Spurs loanee – making it 2362 minutes in total in the second tier this season, playing and starting 27 games. This defeat leaves Stoke in place in the Championship, with 39 points from their 37 games.Â

Finally, at 15:00 GMT, Lanskhear was again named on the West Brom bench, despite manager Tony Mowbray going with two substitutes for this game. After the sides could not be separated for over an hour, the Baggies took the lead midway through the second half. However, just twelve minutes later, Hull equalised to make it 1-1.Â

With four minutes of normal time remaining, Lankshear was introduced to the action – but his side could not find that all important second goal, and they were forced to make do with a point. That draw leaves them in sixth place in the Championship, with 57 points from their 38 games. Â

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Spurs make history on Thursday evening

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On Thursday evening, Tottenham Hotspur secured a hugely important 3-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League round of 16, advancing with a 3-2 aggregate score, and booking a quarter-final fixture with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Two of the three goals were scored by Wilson Odobert, his first goals in Spurs colours. With it, Spurs made some history.

Ange's side make history in their Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar

With those goals (well, with the first goal), Spurs became the first side in major European competition history to have five players under the age of 21 score a goal in the same season. Those five are; Will Lankshear, Dane Scarlett, Oyindamola Ajayi, Mikey Moore, and then Odobert.

The goal scored by Lankshear was in the league phase to now eliminated from the competition Galatasaray, whilst the goals from Scarlett, Ajayi and Moore all came in the 3-0 win over Elfsborg, in an incredible night for the academy.

Those three players are all from the academy, so 60% of the goals were scored by players produced by Hotspur Way. Even Lankshear, who was signed for a seven figure fee from Sheffield United, has been developed in the youth teams. Sure, Odobert was a fair investment, but he has definitely shown flashes of being more smart young recruitment from the club.

We can discuss that the club does need more experience and players in their prime, and there is some merit to that - you can't just have young players - but it is very exciting just how many players Spurs have that could come onto become top class players in the next few years.

Aside from the Alkmaar goal, Lucas Bergvall was incredible on Thursday evening, and at around £8million pounds, has shown to be an incredibly shrewd investment so far. To a lesser scale, it feels similar to Pedri at Barcelona, where they wasted an incredible amount of money on high profile names - whilst signing him for 5 million from Las Palmas.

Although the squad could do with a couple more players in their prime years, the nucleus of young players can prove to be very important. Who would you rather in midfield at the moment, 19-year old Bergvall, or 28-year old Yves Bissouma? An easy answer for everyone.

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England squad announced, which Spurs players did and did not make it?

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On Friday morning, Thomas Tuchel announced his inaugural England squad for the beginning of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia, both of which are home games at Wembley Stadium. Let's go through the options he had from the Lilywhites and see which players made his squad, and the ones who will feel hard done-by by the 51-year-old German.

Surprisingly, the only Tottenham Hotspurs player that Tuchel has picked for this squad is 27-year-old forward Dominic Solanke. The striker made his debut for the Three Lions in November of 2017 at just 20, in a 0-0 draw against record world champions Brazil, but he has only gone on to make a further two appearances in an England shirt. Solanke has just came back from an injury quite recently, so this could be a slight concern for Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, but his form over a sustained period of time in not only a Tottenham shirt but a Bournemouth one as well, along with the recent injury to Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins - I think it's fair to say the 27-year-old deserves his spot in Tuchel's team.

Now let's take a look at some of the names who will definitely be feeling unlucky to be left out, and there is no better place to start than full-back Djed Spence. The 24-year-old has worked so hard to get into the starting eleven of Postecoglou's side, starting nine of his last ten Premier League games for the side from N17. After fairly unsuccessful loan spells abroad at Stade Rennais in France, and Genoa in Italy, Spence has massively improved his game this season, proving to be a very solid option as a left or right-back, providing good cover for Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro. Spence has scored once and created a further goal in the league for Spurs, along with completing just over one and a half dribbles per game, and succeeding in 60% of them. He can also do the defensive part of the game and get stuck in, averaging two tackles a game. When you look at some of the full-backs that have been chosen, Spence would have every right to be gutted with Tuchel's decision.

Another player who will definitely be feeling devastated to be left out is James Maddison. It was reported that Tuchel has said he is a fan of the 28-year-old quite a while ago, however he has not made his first squad. Maddison has nine goals and five assists in the Premier League, and would definitely have added some extra creativity to the system. Again, when you look at some of his colleagues that have been picked ahead of him, the likes of Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze, Curtis Jones of Liverpool and even Marcus Rashford, who has done well at Aston Villa so far, but over a very short amount of time, it is clear to see why Mddison will be left feeling frustrated.

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