MY ACCOUNT
Antonio Conte revealed Hugo Lloris will start Tottenham’s Boxing Day fixture at Brentford on the bench after losing the World Cup final, while the Spurs coach backed Harry Kane to respond to his spot-kick woe.
Despite enjoying a strong campaign in Qatar, Lloris was unable to help Les Bleus to a successful defence of the trophy as they lost a dramatic final against Argentina after a penalty shoot-out.
The goalkeeper was one of three Tottenham players whose countries went the distance at the tournament, along with Argentina’s Cristian Romero and Croatia’s bronze medallist Ivan Perisic.
While Perisic will be available to make an immediate return to Premier League action on Monday, Conte is aware of the need to hand the others a period of rest.
“About the players that played the final and third-fourth-place game, Perisic, Hugo and Cuti [Romero]… only Ivan, who came back today and had a training session with us, is available for the game against Brentford,” Conte said on Friday.
“About Lloris, we want him to stay with us, and we also want him to stay on the bench against Brentford.
“As you know, it is important after the World Cup to give a bit of rest to these players. About Cuti, he will be available for the next game against Aston Villa [on January 1], I hope.”
Lloris was not the only Tottenham player to see his World Cup campaign end with penalty heartache, with England striker Kane firing a spot-kick over the crossbar as the Three Lions were beaten by France in the last eight. Lloris was again the man in goal for France.
However, Conte has no concerns over how Kane will react to that disappointment, backing the striker to move on swiftly,
“We’re talking about a world-class striker, and you know football is like this,” Conte said. “When I was a player, I never missed a penalty because I didn’t kick. Never! I was a real disaster at it.
“But with a penalty I lost a World Cup final against Brazil [in 1994], and I think you live these moments, and you are really disappointed.
“For sure, for the first period you are sad, but then you know that you have to move on. Football gives you the opportunity to have other chances to enjoy.
“Football gives us the possibility to play the sport we have a lot of passion for. Honestly, I am not worried about him. I saw him very well in these two days with us.”
