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Spurs record in Europe:-
U.E.F.A Champions League
P W D L F - A
5 2 1 2 15 -10
European Cup
P W D L F - A
8 4 1 3 21 - 13
(Semi-Finalists 1962)
European Cup Winners Cup
P W D L F - A
33 20 5 8 65 - 34
(Winners 1963)
UEFA Cup
P W D L F - A
85 51 20 15 182-71
(Winners 1972, 1984
Finalists 1974)
Total
P W D L F - A
131 77 27 27 281-125
Champions League Group A
P W D L F-A GD PTS
1.Inter Milan 3 2 1 0 10-5 5 7
2.Spurs 3 1 1 1 9-7 2 4
3.Fc Twente 3 0 2 1 4-7 -3 2
4.SV Werder Bremen 3 0 2 1 3-7 -4 2
· Inter 4 Spurs 3 Match Report
· Preview for Inter v Spurs
A mouth-watering prospect!
Gareth Bale's sensational hat-trick two weeks ago in the San Siro was only the eighth scored in Europe by a Spurs player. The list is as follows:-
20 Sep 1961 Cliff Jones v Gornik Zabreze (h) 8-1
14 Sep 1971 Alan Gilzean v Keflavik (a) 6-1
28 Sep 1971 Martin Chivers v Keflavik (h) 9-0
27 Sep 1972 Martin Chivers v Lyn Oslo (h) 6-0
3 Oct 1984 Garth Crooks v SC Braga (h) 6-0
6 Nov 2008 Darren Bent v Dynamo Zagreb (h) 4-0
25 Aug 2010 Peter Crouch v Young Boys Bern (h) 4-0
20 Oct 2010 Gareth Bale v Inter Milan (a) 3-4
Bale's achievement is highly significant because of the prestigious venue and high profile of the game, but the bottom line is that Spurs did still lose the game. The duel between Bale and Maicon is a mouth-watering prospect, but one wonders if we will have to wait until the latter stages of the game before Bale is able to once again power his way past the Brazilian International right back. Maicon is one of 4 Inter players who have been nominated for the "Ballon D'Or", which for the first time has been merged with the F.I.F.A. World Player of the Year. The other Inter players nominated are goalkeeper Cesar (who went off injured during Inter's game at Genoa on Friday night), Wesley Sneijder, and Samuel Eto'o, whose goal-scoring prowess now amounts to 19 goals in 17 games for club and country this season. That is a powerful indicator of the level of the task facing Spurs tonight.
Darren Bent's hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb carried plenty of importance, because Spurs had lost their first game of the UEFA Cup Group stage against Udinese, and the 4-0 win inspired Spurs towards qualification for the knock-out phase. The Zagreb game came within two weeks of Harry Redknapp's arrival, and form-wise, Spurs were on the crest of a wave.
Peter Crouch's hat-trick against Young Boys carried us through to the Champions League proper, but perhaps the most significant of the 8 triples was by Cliff Jones in Spurs' only previous campaign in the premier European tournament. It came in the second leg of the Preliminary Round game against Polish side Gornik Zabreze. Spurs had lost the first leg 4-2. The White Hart Lane Stadium was packed full for the return match on 20th September 1961, and in his book Glory Glory, My life with Spurs (ISBN - 0 - 333 - 36364 - 7 ) - Available here - Bill Nicholson wrote about the first airing of "Glory, Glory Allelujah" in an English stadium, stating that no congregation at the biggest church assembly in the country could possibly match the noise in the ground.
Skipper Danny Blanchflower planted a penalty after 9 minutes, before ten minutes later Danny crossed to Dyson, who lobbed the ball back into the middle for Cliff Jones to put the scores level on aggregate. Cliff then added two more goals in 11 minutes to send Spurs on their way to victory. Bobby Smith had promised some intimidation and added two goals, and Terry Dyson and John White also scored. The Poles had made the scores level on aggregate after Cliff Jones' second goal, but on the night their goal turned out to be a consolation only.
What we would give for a win tonight! It is bound to be an electric atmosphere. Inter can secure their passage to the round of 16 with a win, but Spurs would also take a massive step towards the knock-out phase of the tournament with a win. If FC Twente and Werder Bremen draw again, and Spurs manage to win then both Inter and Spurs would be almost assured of qualification.
There is good team news for us, with the confirmation that Van der Vaart and Huddlestone did train today and that they are available for selection. Gomes is suspended of course, and Ledley King has joined the other longer term absentees. Milito has still not played for Inter since his injury for Argentina on 8th October, and Cambiasso returned in Genoa, but then suffered a thigh strain. Chivu also missed that game and Stankovic has not played since we were in the San Siro. Since that game Inter have drawn 1-1 at home to Samdoria, and won 1-0 on Friday night in Genoa.
In my preview for the first game I referred to our friendly game at The Lane in July 2006. There was another more memorable friendly meeting at White Hart Lane on 1st May 1986. This was the Ossie Ardiles testimonial game in which a certain Diego Maradonna wore a Spurs (Number 10) shirt. He didn't score, but Mark Falco and Clive Allen ensured that Spurs won the game 2-1.
I fancy that some of our team have conserved energy for this match and look forward to an exhilarating game and performance. A win could happen, but I think a draw might be our most realistic hope. That ought to be enough to ensure we and Inter remain favourites to enter the knock-out stages.
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