LONDON: Harry Kane and Tottenham have been told to prove themselves against the “best team in the world” by Mauricio Pochettino as they prepare to face Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight.
Both Kane and Spurs have been in fine form, with the striker scoring 13 goals in 10 club and international games during September and his side unbeaten in their past nine games in all competitions.
A Champions League match against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, however, is a completely different proposition than playing at home to Swansea or away to Apoel Nicosia. And the Spurs boss has told his players to raise their game against the Spanish giants.
“For sure it is a chance to measure ourselves. We are facing the best team in the world,” Pochettino said.
“We are a young team with many internationals, but not so much experience of playing these type of games. It is a fundamental test.”
Much of the North London club’s good run is down to the form of Kane. The 24 year old netted his first Champions League hat-trick against Apoel last time out and such has been his scoring frenzy that he is being talked about in such grand terms as being close to being on par with Lionel Messi and Real’s main threat, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kane’s 13-goal deluge in September matched the best ever goalscoring month by the Argentine ace and Portuguese star.
Indeed the never-ending rumor mill had Kane as a mega-money move to Real a few weeks ago. And where better to prove his worth and talent than in one of the toughest stadiums to play?
That is the message Pochettino has given his main man ahead of tonight’s kick-off.
“He is one of the most in-form strikers in the world for sure. The numbers speak for themselves,” Pochettino said.
“He has a great ability to sore goals and an incredible determination.”
“He is a great professional who is always looking to get better.
“In the next 10 years he is going to be among the best strikers in the world because he has that determination on top of his quality.”
Kane himself is all too aware of the challenge he faces, not just against Real but many years beyond.
“I want to be one of the best players in the world, so when people put stuff up and I see I am close to those players it is a great incentive to get even closer and go to the next step,” Kane said after netting his sixth hat-trick of the season against Apoel.
“Staying consistent at the top level is what it’s all about.”
Kane and Spurs told to prove their class
Kane and Spurs told to prove their class
India and Pakistan set for World Cup blockbuster as boycott averted
- With bilateral cricket a casualty of their relations, emotions run high whenever the neighbors meet in multi-team events
- For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan has looked in fine form but Babar Azam’s strike rate continues to polarize opinion
India and Pakistan will clash in the Twenty20 World Cup in Colombo on Sunday, still feeling the aftershocks of a tumultuous fortnight in which Pakistan’s boycott threat — later reversed — nearly blew a hole in the tournament’s marquee fixture.
With bilateral cricket a casualty of their fraught relations, emotions run high whenever the bitter neighbors lock horns in multi-team events at neutral venues.
India’s strained relations with another neighbor, Bangladesh, have further tangled the geopolitics around the World Cup.
When Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team field for refusing to tour India over safety concerns, the regional chessboard shifted.
Pakistan decided to boycott the Group A contest against India in solidarity with Bangladesh, jeopardizing a lucrative fixture that sits at the intersection of sport, commerce, and geopolitics.
Faced with the prospect of losing millions of dollars in evaporating advertising revenue, the broadcasters panicked. The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) held hectic behind-the-scenes parleys and eventually brokered a compromise to salvage the tournament’s most sought-after contest.
Strictly on cricketing merit, however, the rivalry has been one-sided.
Defending champions India have a 7-1 record against Pakistan in the tournament’s history and they underlined that dominance at last year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
India beat Pakistan three times in that single event, including a stormy final marred by provocative gestures and snubbed handshakes.
Former India captain Rohit Sharma does not believe in the “favorites” tag, especially when the arch-rivals clash.
“It’s such a funny game,” Rohit, who led India to the title in the T20 World Cup two years ago, recently said.
“You can’t just go and think that it’s a two-point victory for us. You just have to play good cricket on that particular day to achieve those points.”
INDIA’S EDGE
Both teams have opened their World Cup campaigns with back-to-back wins, yet India still appear to hold a clear edge.
Opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy currently top the batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Abhishek is doubtful for the Pakistan match though as he continues to recover from a stomach infection that kept him out of their first two matches.
Ishan Kishan has reinvented himself as a top-order linchpin, skipper Suryakumar Yadav has regained form, while Rinku Singh has settled into the finisher’s role in India’s explosive lineup.
Mystery spinner Chakravarthy and the ever-crafty Jasprit Bumrah anchor the spin and pace units, while Hardik Pandya’s all-round spark is pivotal.
For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan has looked in fine form but Babar Azam’s strike rate continues to polarize opinion.
Captain Salman Agha will bank on spin-bowling all-rounder Saim Ayub, but the potential trump card is off-spinner Usman Tariq, whose slinging, side-arm action has intrigued opponents and fans alike.
