Son Heung-min to miss Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar
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Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-Min celebrating after scoring in their 4-1 English Premier league win overt West Ham United on Oct 19. The South Korean forward, however, will not play in Spurs' next match, which is against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur will seek to maintain their strong start in the Europa League without captain Son Heung-min against AZ Alkmaar on Oct 24, after manager Ange Postecoglou confirmed the South Korean forward will not be involved.
“Sonny was a bit sore after the weekend, he was never going to be involved tomorrow. We’ll leave him out and we’ll see how he is from there,” the Australian told reporters on Oct 23.
The London club have won their opening two games in the competition and Postecoglou said the visit of AZ could allow one or two fringe players to impress.
Youngsters such as Mikey Moore, Will Lankshear and Lucas Bergvall all started in the 2-1 away win against Hungarian side Ferencvaros earlier in October.
“We’ve started the competition really well. Whenever you play away in Europe, it’s a different challenge. We’ve exposed our younger players to European football, which is a positive,” Postecoglou said.
“We weren’t in Europe last year and I thought we missed it.
“We’ve started the competition well, but there’s still a long way to go. One step at a time for us.”
Both forwards Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are in contention for the home encounter after returning to training after injuries.
Over in the Conference League, Chelsea travel to Athens to face Panathinaikos on Oct 24, seeking to secure their second win in as many games in the competition proper. Nothing less is good enough for the Blues, as defender Axel Disasi believes his team are in the competition to win it.
“Just being Chelsea, actually, it’s about going all the way,” the club website quoted the 26-year-old Frenchman as saying.
“Chelsea are renowned for going all the way in European competitions.
“Also, we know that if we win it, we would be the first ever club to win the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. That obviously drives us, and it’s clearly our ambition.”
Manager Enzo Maresca will be keen to get over the English Premier League loss to Liverpool over the weekend with an impressive victory over Diego Alonso’s side. The positives from that loss is the return of captain Reece James and midfielder Romeo Lavia, but both will not feature in Athens.
Meanwhile, Spurs have been fined £20,000 (S$34,300) for their players’ conduct during their 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham United, the Football Association said on Oct 23.
Players from both sides were involved in a melee when West Ham scorer Mohammed Kudus lost his cool late in the match, with the winger first pushing defender Micky van de Ven in the face before doing the same to midfielder Pape Matar Sarr.
Following the incident on Oct 19, players from both sides gathered around Kudus and the 24-year-old was initially booked before the video assistant referee intervened and it was upgraded to a red card.
“It was alleged that the club (Spurs) failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 82nd minute,” the FA said.
Spurs admitted to the charge and accepted the penalty, the FA added.
More punishments can be expected after West Ham and Kudus were also charged by the FA. If found guilty, the Ghana international could serve an additional punishment on top of the three-game ban he will serve for violent conduct. REUTERS
