Tottenham Hotspur

SPURSPLAY

Here’s what he had to say…

You started with a number of younger players – what did you think of the performance?

Roberto: “We have to play seriously, first of all, because when we play for this club or when we work for this club we have to work in the best way we can. The young players played very, very well, especially in the first half, with a clear idea, with the right spirit, with the right qualities as well. In the second half, we played 30 minutes with the older players, the players of the first team, Mateus Fernandes, Conor Gallagher, Ben Davies, Richarlison, Mathys Tel. We didn't concede, we didn't suffer any injuries and this is big news, important news, especially for the beginning of the season. So, now we go to Australia and we follow our pre-season.”

We haven’t seen too much of James Maddison – does he have a problem?

Roberto: “He's not working the last five days, I think, like Udogie, but they are not a big problem, just to stay focused, not to take any risks and then for the next game, the next friendly game against Sydney, maybe we play with Tonali, with other players.”

Fans are very excited about Luca Williams-Barnett – what does he have to do to get to the level he needs to?

Roberto: “Luca is a big talent, very young, big talent. Malachi is another good player for the future of the club. We can't forget the young players, especially for the new rules, the financial play or the rules of the Champions League, Europa League, and then we have to improve our academy, we have to help them to produce more players because we need it and it's important for the club.”

How important is it for young players to take the example of someone like Archie Gray?

Roberto: “Yes, Archie is young, but he's an old player as a mentality, as a performance, as an experience, as a career, but the new players have to push because with me as a coach they have the chance to play, logically they have to show me they are ready, they have qualities, they have a mentality to play in this club. When I decide the players, when I decide the squad, I never see the age of the players, I just analyse the qualities and the potential of these players.”

Are you thinking about Archie Gray as a midfielder or right-back going into the new season with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence coming back late after the World Cup?

Roberto: “It's lucky for me when you have players who are able to play in different positions. It's important for him to fix one position, one favourite position, but at the end he has to be open to cover different positions on the pitch. He can play as a right back, as a left back, as a midfielder, nothing changes. He's a smart player, I think he's improving his knowledge on the pitch because changing position, you change body shape, you change direction when you receive the ball and when you give the ball. He's an important player for me, even if he can play in different positions.”

Where do you see Mikey Moore’s future heading into next season?

Roberto: “We have to see, we have to analyse the last part of the transfer market I think because we try to bring wingers and then we speak with him, with his agent, with the club to find the best solution for everyone.”

What did you think of Auckland FC today?

Roberto: “They have a clear idea with the ball. I know football is not the most important sport in New Zealand. I spoke before the game with the coach and he told me that many players for the World Cup, they weren't here today. It's a great experience for us. Unfortunately, we can't stay more days to visit this country, because the atmosphere in this country, the culture, is great for us. We come from another country, another world and it would be a great experience for us to stay longer.”

What did you think of the occasion, especially that there was a record crowd for a men's football match here?

Roberto: “We are happy because when we go to this country to play friendly games, it's an important part of our job because we are a great club, a big club and we are very happy when the people in the other countries are so close to us. Tottenham is not just for the UK, it's for all parts of the world and for that we wanted to play well, seriously, to make our fans happy in other countries.”

How are you feeling about the next two or three weeks?

Roberto: “First of all, we don't want to take any risk of injuries, of potential injuries. We have to improve the physical condition, because we need running to play football and we have to be stronger. We have to work on the knowledge of the style of play we put inside the new players because we have very important new players. We have to finish the window of this transfer market because it's not finished yet. I think we can be happier at the end of this transfer market because I spoke a lot of time with the owner, with the board and they want to build a very strong team for this season for sure, to make the days for the future to become great again.”

You're only here for a short time - did you do anything in particular?

Roberto: “No, just work and sleep, try to sleep. I'm suffering a lot of jet lag and no restaurant, nothing, just to prepare the guys to play in the best way we can and try to sleep something more than three or four hours.”

SPURSPLAY

Here’s all you need to know...

What time does the match start?

The game begins at 3pm local time in New Zealand, which equates to 4am in the UK.

How can I watch the game?

As with all of our men’s first team friendlies this summer, you’ll be able to watch the action live and in full on SPURSPLAY, subject to availability in your region – find out more here.

Once again, we’ll also be bringing supporters live text updates via our Match Centre here on our official app and website, meaning you won’t miss any of the action.

What is the team news?

Roberto De Zerbi has taken 35 players on the trip, meaning there are likely to be plenty of different faces on show over the course of the 90 minutes.

Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Martin Dubravka could all feature in front of our supporters for the first time after playing in Wednesday’s behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons, while it remains to be seen when fellow summer arrivals Andy Robertson and Jan Paul van Hecke will make their first appearances in our colours after reporting in at the club a few days ago following their involvement at the World Cup.

Which kit will the team be wearing?

We’ll be wearing our brand new 2026/27 home kit, featuring Lilywhite shirts, navy blue shorts and Lilywhite socks.

What will the weather be like?

It’s expected to rain during the game in Auckland, with temperatures at around 11 degrees.

Wayne Burnett’s side took the lead on a sweltering afternoon, with captain Alfie Dorrington heading home inside two minutes, but were pegged back by Henry Hearn after 31 minutes.

Oliver Irow came close to restoring the lead after 42 minutes, but saw an impressive strike saved two minutes before the hosts marched down the other end and edged in front through Jack Powell.

Nathan Ferguson added a third for Hornchurch in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, placing a shot underneath a diving Sam Archer and into the far corner, which sealed the victory for the hosts.

Capping off a week-long training camp in Cork, Jamie Carr’s young charges gave a good account of themselves against their slightly older counterparts from the League of Ireland outfit and we fully deserved the 2-1 half-time lead given to us by a brace from Ezra Agyekum.

However, after Orion Cala had cracked home an unstoppable shot to get Waterford off the mark in the first period, two further long-range efforts from Romeo Lapite and Aaron Brennan – both running onto loose balls and hitting the target at the first time of asking – saw our opponents turn the game around in the second half. We managed to find a second wind as the match progressed, substitutes Zion Beckles and Melvyn Kabongolo both seeing shots well saved, but ultimately we couldn’t muster an equaliser.

Waterford came to Fota Island – where our squad has trained all week – and threatened with a couple of early corners but we produced some dangerous deliveries at the other end before taking an 11th-minute lead with a slick passing move that ended with Toju Wellspring playing in Agyekum in an advanced position on the right to blast home from the angle.

Filip Wasilewski’s deflected low shot was sharply saved down to his right by our 15-year-old goalkeeper Mikel Jack at the other end, but the talented young stopper could do nothing to prevent Cala’s rasping 20-yard shot from crashing home on 24 minutes after Wasilewski had darted between defenders in our left-back area to tee him up.

Striker Phoenix Offiah sent a looping header just off target and then had an effort disallowed for offside following a mistake at the back from Waterford before we made our impressive spell of pressure count with a second goal on 32 minutes. It all started with an excellent run down the right by Oscar Sandiford, his delivery saw captain Conall Glancy hit the post but we kept the ball alive in the opponents’ box and it eventually came to Agyekum, who blasted home through a mass of defenders to make it 2-1.

Glancy flashed an effort high across the face of goal from the right as we finished the first half in control, but our opponents threatened more after the restart and equalised again on 56 minutes when Cala caused us problems down Waterford’s left and the ball wasn’t fully dealt with, allowing Lapite to run onto it 22 yards out and lash home.

Five minutes later, we conceded in similar fashion, a ball coming across from Waterford’s left with Brennan this time running onto it and drilling low in off the far post. A superb goal-line clearance from Solomon Olajide prevented Jack Garrett from extending his side’s lead after he rounded goalkeeper Jack, with the same player firing across goal and wide on the break a few moments later.

We went back on the attack in search of a reply, Beckles’ curler brilliantly tipped away with Kabongolo also having an angled drive saved from inside the box on the right, but we couldn’t find another breakthrough and it was Waterford’s Peter Byrne who went closest at the end, the midfielder sending a glancing effort just beyond the far stick. Despite the scoreline, it was an excellent work-out for our young side to round off the week across the water.

‘A game that felt like a real challenge’

Under-18s Coach Jamie, back in his home country, felt there were a number of positives to take from the match: “It was the perfect pre-season game for us – really competitive from an opposition point of view and it provided us with an opportunity to apply some of the stuff that we’ve been working on over the last few weeks in a game that felt like a real challenge, which is what the boys needed,” he said.

“We always want to go and win every game but when you think of the bigger picture, the stage of pre-season that we’re at and the opposition that we were playing against, the priorities were, from a physical point of view, getting the minutes under our belts. You can still see we’re at a stage where the players haven’t played a lot of games yet, both technically and from a decision-making point of view, so we’ve got lots of work to do on that but we’ve got games coming up where we’re going to refine all those things and continue to make progress.”

Line-ups

Waterford: Bacela, Brennan, McDonald, Cala, Lapite, Barrett, Pululu, Byrne, Wozniak, Keohan, Wasilewski. Substitutes: Power, Zborowski, O’Brien, Garrett, Capocci, Murphy.

Spurs: Jack, Sandiford (Lawrence 60), Agyekum, Olajide, Evans (Jobling 46), Wellspring (Ball 60), Vidal-Philbert (Kabongolo 46), Coffi Smith (Beckles 46), Offiah (Haughton-Sinclair 60), Glancy (c), Salter. Substitute (not used): O’Malley-Short.

Match data

Goals: Waterford – Cala 24, Lapite, 56, Brennan 61; Spurs – Agyekum 11, 32.

Yellow cards: Waterford – McDonald 60, Lapite 68, Pululu 71; Spurs – Glancy 41.

Venue: Fota Island, Cork.

Weather: Bright, light cloud, 22 degrees.

Capping off a week-long training camp in Cork, Jamie Carr’s young charges gave a good account of themselves against their slightly older counterparts from the League of Ireland outfit and we fully deserved the 2-1 half-time lead given to us by a brace from Ezra Agyekum.

However, after Orion Cala had cracked home an unstoppable shot to get Waterford off the mark in the first period, two further long-range efforts from Romeo Lapite and Aaron Brennan – both running onto loose balls and hitting the target at the first time of asking – saw our opponents turn the game around in the second half. We managed to find a second wind as the match progressed, substitutes Zion Beckles and Melvyn Kabongolo both seeing shots well saved, but ultimately we couldn’t muster an equaliser.

Waterford came to Fota Island – where our squad has trained all week – and threatened with a couple of early corners but we produced some dangerous deliveries at the other end before taking an 11th-minute lead with a slick passing move that ended with Toju Wellspring playing in Agyekum in an advanced position on the right to blast home from the angle.

Filip Wasilewski’s deflected low shot was sharply saved down to his right by our 15-year-old goalkeeper Mikel Jack at the other end, but the talented young stopper could do nothing to prevent Cala’s rasping 20-yard shot from crashing home on 24 minutes after Wasilewski had darted between defenders in our left-back area to tee him up.

Striker Phoenix Offiah sent a looping header just off target and then had an effort disallowed for offside following a mistake at the back from Waterford before we made our impressive spell of pressure count with a second goal on 32 minutes. It all started with an excellent run down the right by Oscar Sandiford, his delivery saw captain Conall Glancy hit the post but we kept the ball alive in the opponents’ box and it eventually came to Agyekum, who blasted home through a mass of defenders to make it 2-1.

Glancy flashed an effort high across the face of goal from the right as we finished the first half in control, but our opponents threatened more after the restart and equalised again on 56 minutes when Cala caused us problems down Waterford’s left and the ball wasn’t fully dealt with, allowing Lapite to run onto it 22 yards out and lash home.

Five minutes later, we conceded in similar fashion, a ball coming across from Waterford’s left with Brennan this time running onto it and drilling low in off the far post. A superb goal-line clearance from Solomon Olajide prevented Jack Garrett from extending his side’s lead after he rounded goalkeeper Jack, with the same player firing across goal and wide on the break a few moments later.

We went back on the attack in search of a reply, Beckles’ curler brilliantly tipped away with Kabongolo also having an angled drive saved from inside the box on the right, but we couldn’t find another breakthrough and it was Waterford’s Peter Byrne who went closest at the end, the midfielder sending a glancing effort just beyond the far stick. Despite the scoreline, it was an excellent work-out for our young side to round off the week across the water.

‘A game that felt like a real challenge’

Under-18s Coach Jamie, back in his home country, felt there were a number of positives to take from the match: “It was the perfect pre-season game for us – really competitive from an opposition point of view and it provided us with an opportunity to apply some of the stuff that we’ve been working on over the last few weeks in a game that felt like a real challenge, which is what the boys needed,” he said.

“We always want to go and win every game but when you think of the bigger picture, the stage of pre-season that we’re at and the opposition that we were playing against, the priorities were, from a physical point of view, getting the minutes under our belts. You can still see we’re at a stage where the players haven’t played a lot of games yet, both technically and from a decision-making point of view, so we’ve got lots of work to do on that but we’ve got games coming up where we’re going to refine all those things and continue to make progress.”

Line-ups

Waterford: Bacela, Brennan, McDonald, Cala, Lapite, Barrett, Pululu, Byrne, Wozniak, Keohan, Wasilewski. Substitutes: Power, Zborowski, O’Brien, Garrett, Capocci, Murphy.

Spurs: Jack, Sandiford (Larwence 60), Agyekum, Olajide, Evans (Jobling 46), Wellspring (Ball 60), Vidal-Philbert (Kabongolo 46), Coffi Smith (Beckles 46), Offiah (Haughton-Sinclair 60), Glancy (c), Salter. Substitute (not used): O’Malley-Short.

Match data

Goals: Waterford – Cala 24, Lapite, 56, Brennan 61; Spurs – Agyekum 11, 32.

Yellow cards: Waterford – McDonald 60, Lapite 68, Pululu 71; Spurs – Glancy 41.

Venue: Fota Island, Cork.

Weather: Bright, light cloud, 22 degrees.

SPURSPLAY

SPURSPLAY

Auckland FC are reigning A-League champions after beating Sydney FC – who we play next week – in the Grand Final in May – New Zealand’s first A-League crown.

A number of the Black Knights’ players were part of New Zeland’s World Cup squad but as the new A-League season approaches, they’ve lost head coach Steve Corica to J.League side Yokohama F. Marinos.

We’re expecting a record crowd for a men’s soccer match in New Zealand – the record is 43,217 for the Women’s World Cup in 2023 – but what we can we expect from our hosts?

We spoke to Michael Burgess, Senior Sports Journalist at the New Zealand Herald…

What can we expect from Auckland FC at Eden Park?

Michael: “Yeah, this is a big, big deal. I mean, this will be one of the biggest matches of some of these players' lives, especially the young players, to take on a Premier League team. It's the sort of thing they dream about. Auckland FC is a team coming off an historic season. They won the A-League, and became the first New Zealand team to do so. Wellington have been in the A-League since 2007 and never could quite do it. In May, Auckland won the Grand Final here in Auckland. It was an incredible thing. I think that means there's a real foundation of confidence and belief in the squad - but the caveat would be that things have changed a lot. So, three or four of the most important players have left, two or three were with the All Whites on World Cup duty and won't be playing, so there's a bit of mystery about the line-up. Also, we don't have a head coach. Steve Corica, on the back of his success, got snapped up by Yokohama Mariners in Japan – in fact, Auckland FC have lost their head coach, the assistant, and their goalkeeping coach. In terms of Sunday, they've still got the base of last year's team, but there will be more young players than normal.”

Tactically, how do Auckland normally approach it?

Michael: “The style they liked to play with the previous manager, and I'm sure they'll continue, is basically a 4-3-3. They like to use a big guy, Sam Cosgrove, who did really well for Aberdeen, been in the English league for a long time, a big, tough, rangy striker. He's the focal point. They like to get wingers around him and a couple of full-backs who get forward as well. They’re good at set pieces, good delivery. I don't know how much pressing they'll do against Spurs. It might be a bit different, but I think it'll be a matter of trying to see if they can get a foothold in the game. The main thing you always hear from New Zealand players when they go to a Club World Cup or something, or the All Whites, it's all about trying to get used to that, trying to adjust, because you get on the field and suddenly the ball's zooming around. That'll be the challenge. The way we look at, no matter who Spurs put on the field, it will be a really good level.”

You mentioned potentially a record attendance for a men’s match in a preview in the NZ Herald - it shouldn't be underestimated what us playing here means to New Zealand football fans…

Michael: “It's massive. I still remember Everton coming here in 1987. They'd just won the league. The deal had been signed a year before. That made such an impression on me as a school kid. I never forgot it, seeing those players. Since then, it's been pretty rare to have teams that big. I remember the LA Galaxy coming, David Beckham, and that created quite a bit of interest in 2007. Then, in 2014, we had Newcastle come with West Ham, which was massive. We had a lot of English teams come here in the 1970s and 1980s (we visited in 1976) but generally it’s seen as a bridge too far because it is a long way. It's the longest journey you can make, right? It’s created such a buzz because the Premier League is bigger than ever now in New Zealand. That’s going to be reflected in tomorrow's crowd, from what I’ve been told, the biggest crowd for a men's game, and the biggest crowd outside the Women's World Cup - bigger than any All Whites match, bigger than the LA Galaxy one, bigger than the West Ham-Newcastle. Manchester United came here in 1968 with George Best and Bobby Charlton, and they got 26,000. Okay, different times, but, yes, it's huge.”

Finally, we play at Eden Park, the home of the All Blacks - can you put into words what the All Blacks mean to the people of New Zealand?

Michael: “I'd say two things. I'd say that, yes, it still stops the nation whenever they play. It feels like we still base most of our self-esteem on how the All Blacks are doing. You know, our pride as a nation depends on the All Blacks. Eden Park, it's sort of the cathedral in New Zealand sport, because the All Blacks have had this crazy, unbeaten run there since 1994. I think it's 53 matches now. It is a special place. It's got a lot of history. What I would say is that New Zealand's changed in my lifetime. Rugby's still so big, but it's not everything. Football is now the biggest participation sport by quite a long way. A lot of people are playing football. A lot of people are watching it. It doesn't have that commercial base that rugby does, but it's definitely growing. You'd see as many kids around Auckland wearing Premier League shirts, or Auckland FC shirts, as you would wearing All Blacks shirts. I think the new generation has changed, but in terms of the media and the corporate market, everything still revolves around the All Blacks.”