Marine FC, the amateur team, is a challenge of a lifetime only when a confrontation with the top club Tottenham falls short, but for Tottenham, if one loses, it will be a huge shock and a burdensome game that will leave a stain on the club’s history.
Manager Jose Mourinho accompanied Tottenham’s first-team players on the away list instead of the under-23 players. Gareth Bale, Dele Ali, and Vinicius are starting out. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane are expected to be put on the bench depending on the situation.
“I don’t think they want to confront the Tottenham U-23 players,” Mourinho said ahead of the Marines. “I don’t think they want to face the Tottenham U-23 players. They’ll want to play directly against the players they’ve been watching and respected on TV. We want to give them that chance.” He showed respect for the 8th Division players.
“I and our coaching staff are preparing for the game while respecting them. We’ve been trying to find out about Marine’s striker, center back, and goalkeeper, and we’ve studied their tactics. It’s the same as when you’re hitting other opponents. Of course, it’s a different level, but the preparation process is different. The same,” he said.
“I’m happy to play with them. I understand their dreams. It’s up to us to get them back from dreams to reality. But I definitely understand their dreams.”
“No one in the football world thinks we’ll lose, so I think they’ll want to believe that we can win at this moment. It’s up to us to bring it back to reality. We’re top professionals and we’re at different levels. And we’ll win. It’s up to us to get it to understand as soon as possible, but before the game, now they can dream too.”
“So what should we do apart from respect for them? I always think that true respect is winning against these teams. As a good team, playing responsibly and motivating them together as a good team. In the end, I think that winning is a way of showing respect. This is the attitude of big clubs in the cup competition.”
“If we go there and lose, it will be a tremendous achievement for them. But that’s only possible when we lack our respect for them.” “We are preparing for the game normally. We trained in preparation for the marine battle, and we had a tactical meeting. We are going to win,” he said, clarifying his will to win. Reporter Jeon Young-ji [email protected]