Kane’s tirade to fire up despairing Spurs
HARRY KAne gave an inspirational half-time speech which challenged crestfallen Tottenham team-mates not to let their season end in a gutless whimper. Spurs produced a brilliant comeback from 3-0 down on aggregate against Ajax to earn a place in the Champions League final against Liverpool on June 1. And a source told
Sportsmail: ‘Harry was very passionate in there. He asked them, after everything they’ve been through this season, whether this was how they wanted their season to be remembered.
‘After that unbelievable night at Manchester City in the quarter-finals and how they came through their group, he said to them, “Is this how we want our season to end?”’
Kane’s intervention worked, with Lucas Moura scoring a hat-trick on an unforgettable night for Spurs.
Kieran Trippier added: ‘At half-time, he came in going
mental at us, because we can do better, which we all knew.’ Mauricio Pochettino, in contrast, kept his cool at half-time. The manager called on his players to draw inspiration from Liverpool’s brilliant comeback against Barcelona the previous night and stressed the importance of scoring the next goal. Kane, who suffered an ankle
ligament injury in the quarter-final first leg against Manchester City, is confident he will be fit to lead Tottenham’s attack in the final. He is expected to start running on grass early next week, before progressing to twisting and turning exercises. If there is no sign of inflammation in the ankle, Kane could resume ball work by next weekend. Midfielder Harry Winks is expected to be available for the final after surgery on a groin injury, but there are concerns over Jan Vertonghen, who sustained an ankle injury in the victory and left Amsterdam on crutches, wearing a protective boot. He faces a scan tomorrow to determine the extent of the injury. England manager Gareth Southgate is keeping tabs on Kane and Winks’ progress as he finalises his squad for the UEFA Nations League finals in Portugal. England’s opening match is against Holland on June 6, five days after the Champions League final. Southgate will name an extended squad on Thursday, with as many 12 players set to feature in the Champions League and Europa League finals. Southgate could be without a number of his stars until June 3 and, as well as including all those involved in European finals, he is considering a back-up list in case players drop out with injuries. Meanwhile, BT Sport are expected to make the Champions League final free-to-air. They attracted a peak audience of 2.69million for Liverpool’s 4-0 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday evening and 2.4m as Tottenham beat Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday. However, when Manchester United beat Chelsea in the previous all-English Champions League final in 2008, ITV attracted peak figures of almost 15m, while 19m watched United defeat Bayern Munich on the same channel in 1999. Last year, BT streamed the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid on YouTube and they are expected to announce plans next week to link up with a streaming platform again.