The Friendly That Wasn't

South Korea tour wraps up | Djed Spence finally signs | One last international roundup for the summer | Away kit review | SATP update

Let's jump straight in this week with Spurs Men's final match of the South Korea pre-season tour.

Tottenham 1 - 1 Sevilla

Unfortunately, Sevilla missed the memo about this being a "friendly" match. I've seen regular season matches less chippy than this one! Spurs found it difficult to get any momentum going with the stop-start nature of the game due to frequent fouls by Sevilla—including from a player very near and dear to Spurs fans' hearts:  Erik Lamela. But if you can overlook his moments of mischief, it was nice to see him reunited with his old Spurs teammates.

We entered halftime scoreless, but things quickly heated up in the second half. Thanks to some scrappy work in the box, Son Heung-min was able to assist Harry Kane for a close-range goal in the 50th minute. Ivan Rakitić equalized in the 64th minute on a superb long-range shot. I had flashbacks to He Who Shall Not Be Named in the last game against Manchester United. You never give someone with that good of a shot that much space to work with! It's defensive malpractice.

The most notable lineup decision for the friendly was Lucas Moura's inclusion at the starting right wingback spot. I was also surprised (and lowkey annoyed) to see Davinson Sánchez starting at left center back again. Even more frustrating, when Ben Davies finally subbed in at halftime he didn't last until the end of the match, going out in the 85th minute with an apparent leg injury. I had a moment of panic when they brought out the stretcher, but he was able to get up on his own power and even went back into the game for a couple of minutes before ultimately subbing out. However, he was also spotted in a leg brace the next day, so perhaps we shouldn't be too optimistic just yet. Good thing Clément Lenglet is waiting in the wings!

Overall, it seems like the squad had a great time in South Korea, particularly interacting with the loyal local fans. They have also inspired me to look up the closest Korean BBQ restaurant to my house and give the cuisine of Sonny's homeland a try.

The Second Spence

Spurs' social media admin already made the Sixth Spence joke, since Djed Spence was our sixth signing of the summer, but I'm going to call him the Second Spence instead—after Drew Spence (more on her in the international roundup later on).

His signing saga did seem to drag on for quite a while, but unlike times in the past when a signing took so long, I didn't find myself that bothered since we've already had such a successful transfer window so far. From this point on, any more signings we make are just icing on top of an already delicious cake.

Although Djed (definitely going to have to go with first names for him and Drew to avoid confusion) is a young player at just 21 years of age, he comes to Tottenham with several accomplishments under his belt, including:

・an EFL Young Player of the Month award, Championship Player of the Month award, and even Championship Goal of the Month

・winning promotion with his loan team, Nottingham Forest, in the playoff

・a spot in the EFL and Championship Teams of the Season for 2021/22

・a debut appearance with the England U-21s this past spring

So sure, he's untested in the Premier League as of yet, but he's by no means inexperienced. I welcome the additional depth at right wingback. And who better to develop under than Antonio Conte? Plus, it never hurts to have another homegrown player.

The summer of soccer comes to a close

...well, kind of. The Euros are obviously still happening, but since Finland didn't make it out of the group stage, we don't have any Spurs players remaining in the competition. But as a PSA, I will just tell you:  if you haven't been watching the Euros, you've been missing out. The first quarter-final between England and Spain was an instant classic. It's also a great way to scout some of the talent Spurs Women will be playing against in the WSL. Alessia Russo and Ella Toone? Very dangerous.

The Concacaf W Championship has ended, and wow, what a tournament it was! There were plenty of surprises, from host team Mexico's early exit in the group stage to Jamaica's third-place finish. The US got some revenge on Canada, ironically thanks to a penalty. There was also the breakout performance of Haiti's star midfielder, Melchie Dumornay. No offense to Stade de Reims, but if she isn't at a bigger club soon I will be amazed.

From a Spurs perspective, the Jamaica games were the most relevant, since Shelina Zadorsky only made one relatively uneventful appearance for Canada. Becky Spencer and Drew Spence, on the other hand, were extremely impactful for their nation. Canada's Kailen Sheridan may have earned the Golden Glove, but in my opinion, Spencer was the best keeper in the tournament. She really showed off what a versatile player she is between the sticks, with her formidable shot-stopping ability and calm, controlled distribution. You may have seen me raving on Twitter about her inch-perfect positioning to cut off her opponents' shot angles. To sum it all up:  she was an absolute boss.

Spence also put in some important performances, even contributing a superb headed goal in Jamaica's 4-0 group stage win over Haiti—the win that clinched Jamaica's berth in the World Cup next summer. In the third place win over Costa Rica, she made the game-winning assist to Kalyssa van Zanten. I regret that this tournament also made me a big Khadija "Bunny" Shaw fan—unfortunate for me because she plays for City... who massively underutilize her, it must be said. #JusticeForBunny! Jamaica have definitely proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in Concacaf, at the same time as Mexico seem to be going backwards.

I have saved arguably the best for last. The one, the only Rosella Ayane scored the winning penalty to send Morocco to the Women's AFCON final. Yes, seriously! She also forced the goalkeeper error that allowed her teammate Sanaâ Mssoudy to equalize with Nigeria and force the penalty shootout. She's gotten a fair amount of criticism for her poor finishing in open play during the tournament, but she came up big when it counted, to her credit. If we know one thing about Ros by this point, it's that she can score a decent penalty (her only WSL goal for Spurs last season came from a PK). If you haven't seen the video of Ros making the winning penalty and not realizing she'd won Morocco the game, you have to watch it. Pure comedy:

The final (vs South Africa) is on Saturday at 3pm CT, so let's hope Rosella can score the goal of her life to get Morocco over the final hurdle. Regardless, they've already qualified for the World Cup!

Apparently, there is also a tournament happening in Asia right now (the EAFF E-1 Football Championship) but I haven't seen much coverage of it at all—nor can I tell if it has any qualification implications—but we can wish Cho So-hyun good luck with South Korea. This is not an Asian tournament that Australia is involved in, so no Kyah Simon, and now that Tang Jiali has left after her loan, we no longer have a Spurs connection with China.

Nike must answer for its crimes

Y'all already know what I'm referring to:  the horrible, godawful 2022/23 Tottenham away kit.

Seriously, what the hell Nike?! What were they thinking? It's part wetsuit, part cycling jersey, and 100% eyesore. If it was just a training top, I could let it go, but for actual matches in front of a global audience? It's an embarrassment.

Maybe that sounds like I'm being harsh, but it's only because this new kit supports my longstanding claim that Nike is the least creative kit maker when it comes to design. A middle schooler could have sketched this. The color palette is definitely juvenile.

I believe we're still locked in with Nike for about another decade, which is a crying shame. The tyranny must end!

On an optimistic note, the so-far-unreleased third kit couldn't possibly be worse... right?

A newsletter update ahead of the Women's Cup

I just launched a Ko-fi page for Spurs Across the Pond in hopes of raising some funds for my upcoming trip to Louisville for the Women's Cup.

If you've enjoyed my newsletter, you can now "buy me a coffee" (or the metaphorical token of appreciation of your choosing) to show your support.

You can read more about why I started the Ko-fi page in this post. I truly appreciate any support you can give, whether it's a one-time tip or a monthly membership. I always say that SAtP is a labor of love, but the truth is that I do put a lot of time and effort into making it, and it would mean a lot to me if you were able to contribute (but absolutely zero pressure if you can't, which is why I went with Ko-fi rather than Revue's built-in paid subscription option—no paywalls for this newsletter).

I'm really excited to try some new things with my coverage of the Women's Cup that I think y'all are going to enjoy. And as always, I'm open to feedback!

And don't worry—email subscriptions to the newsletter will continue to be free, so keep sharing it with your Spurs friends and family. Also, keep an eye out for the 2022/23 season preview coming soon; it'll be a fun resource to share with all the people in your life that you're trying to convert to the COYS life.

Special thanks to Kaley and Sam who have already contributed!

COYS