SPURS GOING ALL OUT FOR ‘MAGIC’ FA CUP
TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that he will take the FA Cup seriously this season, starting with tomorrow’s thirdround tie at home to AFC Wimbledon. Pochettino described the competition as ‘magic’ and admitted he cannot take any chances after Spurs fell 2-0 and 3-2 down at home to Wycombe Wanderers at White Hart Lane last season before winning 4-3. ‘The FA Cup is a special competition,’ said the Argentine. ‘Wimbledon are in League One but always it is tough. When we played Wycombe it was so difficult. The FA Cup is magic and anything can happen. That is why it’s so important to respect the opponent.’ Pochettino, however, will make changes after his team played two games in 48 hours against Swansea and West Ham on Tuesday and Thursday. Defenders Kyle Walker-Peters, 20, and Juan Foyth, 19, are in line to feature. ‘For me as a player, it was impossible to play again in 48 hours,’ said Pochettino. ‘My physical condition was not great. Here in England to be a player is so, so tough. The players deserve praise because the effort is amazing.’ Meanwhile, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min suggested his ‘shushing’ gesture to West Ham supporters after scoring the equaliser in Thursday’s 1-1 draw was a response to a racist incident earlier in the season. In November, in a video broadcast on social media, the South Korean wound down his car window to have a picture taken with a fan. A purported West Ham supporter in a nearby vehicle asked Son if he could get him the Planet of the
Apes film. ‘DVDs. You do DVDs. Good copies,’ the man said. Being a seller of bootleg DVDs is an offensive stereotype often used to insult Asian footballers. West Ham issued a statement, insisting the club ‘unreservedly condemn the actions of the individual in the video’. Son said of his celebration: ‘It was nothing special, I think they knew why I did it and that’s it.’