Eurofoot 2013
   Hazebeek Sportspark, Oostduinkerke
          Friday 2nd August 2013 

                 Spurs Squad

        1 Luke McGee 
        2 Channing Campbell-Young 
        3 Alex McQueen 
        4 Cameron Carter-Vickers 
        5 Christian Maghoma 
        6 Connor Ogilvie 
        7 Anton Walkes 
        8 Filip Lesniak 
        9 Joe Pritchard
       10 William Miller 
       11 Joshua Onomah
       12 Luke Amos 
       13 Harry Voss 
       14 Emmanuel Sonupe 
       15 Anthony Georgiou 
       16 Kyle Walker-Peters
       17 Daniel Akindayini 
       18 Darren McQueen 

Group B

Tottenham Hotspur
Valenciennes FC
FC Nordsjaelland
Cercle Brugge
Standard Liege
SV Zulte Waregem

       First Group match 11.45am
        SPURS     v   VALENCIENNES
    (White/Blue)       (All Red)
        4-3-3            4-4-2

         0(0)             0(0)

Valenciennes:– Saigal, Anoh, Courtin, Niakhate, Fanny, Benhamdane, Hanzoui, Daury, Mbenza, Herbin(Bugnicourt 34), Tregoat

Booked:– Fanny 30, Anoh 50+1

Spurs started their opening game with McGee in goal behind the central pairing of McQueen and Maghoma with Campbell-Young at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Lesniak anchored the midfield with Onomah and Amos alongside him. Up front Darren McQueen had Sonupe on his right and Miller on his left.

Spurs kicked off attacking the right hand goal but their passing was not precise enough to put pressure on the French side. The French were quick and sharp with Benhamdane firing wide from Mbenza's cross.

A free kick from Amos found Onomah on the far side of the area but Saigal saved his effort. A quick break saw Miller play a through ball for McQueen to run onto but the keeper was out quickly to save at his feet.

Tregoat hit a snap shot that was saved at the near post by McGee for a corner. From the corner Niakhate headed wide. Darren McQueen had two chances in quick succession when he was played in by Miller for a shot that was saved for a corner. From the corner the keeper saved his far-post header.

Benhamdane crossed for Herbin to draw a save from McGee before the striker almost scored. The ball was played over the top for him and he beat McGee to the ball and lifted it over him towards an empty net. The ball bounced in the six yard box and flew over the bar. Hanzoui fired wide from distance and just before the break Herbin shot wide.

There were no changes for the start of the second half with Spurs looking to use the pace of Sonupe on the right. Having conceded a free kick, Fanny was booked for kicking the ball away. Onomah curled a free kick over from the left and Campbell-Young got forward to draw a save from the keeper.

Spurs made two changes after ten minutes, bringing on Georgiou for Miller on the left and replacing McQueen with Akindayini up front. Five minutes later Pritchard came on for Amos in the midfield.

With two wingers, Spurs began to find space on the flanks and stretched the French defence. From one cross Onomah drew a great reaction save from Saigal. The keeper did even better when Maghoma started a move for Georgiou to get down the left. His cross was missed by Akindayini attacking the near post and came to Sonupe coming in at the back with a first time shot.

McGee made his own great save to prevent Raymond at his near post. Walkes came on with a minute to go, replacing Onomah, more to protect the point than to press home the attack. As the game went into added time Anoh was booked for a foul on Georgiou on the left. From the free kick taken by Pritchard the keeper had to save from McQueen at the far post.

The game finished goal-less but not because of negative play, as both sides had chances to win it. Spurs were lucky not to go behind in the first half and upped their game in the second and were unlucky not to get the three points.

       Second Group Match 3pm
     SPURS    v    NORDSJAELLAD
  (All Blue)        (All Red)
     4-3-3            4-5-1

      4(2)             0(0)

Spurs:– Voss; McQueen A., Carter-Vickers, Ogilvie, Walker-Peters, Walkes(Onomah 41), Lesniak(Amos 46), Pritchard, McQueen D(Sonupe 36)., Akindayini, Georgiou(Miller 44).

Scorers:- O.G 11, McQueen D. 17, Georgiou 44, Akindayini 50+2

Booked:– Walkes 27, A. McQueen 41, 50+1(sent off), Ogilvie 48

Nordsjaelland:– Jensen; Lund, Erbas, Luimes, Rasmussen, Mouritsen, Johansson, Ritter, Pedersen, Jensen M., Eskandri

Spurs lined up with Voss in goal behind Carter-Vickers and Ogilvie in central defence with Alex McQueen at right back and Walker-Peters on the left. Lesniak again anchored the midfield trio with Walkes and Pritchard. Akindayini led the attack with Darren McQueen on his right and Georgiou on his left.

The Danes are a strong physical side which showed with their striker Luimes making his mark on both Carter-Vickers and Ogilvie in the opening minutes. Other players were on the receiving end of tough challenges as last year's runners-up went looking for a second win of the day.

Mathias Jensen got down the left and fired wide early on. Georgiou was not allowed to get away whenever he beat his man but won a corner on the left. Walker-Peters, who was covering, picked up the clearance and got down the right but his cross was blocked. He picked up the ball again and drove in a ball towards the far post that was deflected in by a defender's leg to give Spurs the lead.

The Danes were rattled but still tried to take the game to Spurs with a shot wide by Luimes. Georgiou got free down the left and crossed for McQueen to fire over for a corner.

Nordsjaelland were caught in possession by Akindayini from the corner with the ball rolling into the penalty area where Darren McQueen was alive to the situation. He collected the ball, and sidestepped the keeper to put it into the empty net for 2-0. Voss saved high to his right from a Jensen shot conceding a corner as the half finished.

Spurs were full of confidence, and started the second half well. but Walkes was booked for a foul on Pedersen as he got past him.

McQueen pulled the ball back for Akindayini but his effort was wide. Prichard took a free kick on the left, sending it to Alex McQueen on the right, whose cross was turned over by Darren McQueen. Darren was then replaced by Sonupe to give better width on the right.

Georgiou was still causing problems on the left and his half-blocked cross was driven wide by Akindayini. Onomah came on for Walkes. Shortly after that, a free kick from the right found Alex McQueen in the centre. His stooping header was saved by the keeper before going out of play on the right. I could not see what happened but Alex was booked by the referee as he prepared to take the throw-in.

Akindayini drew a save before Spurs increased their lead. A long diagonal ball found Georgiou on the left. He beat his man and drove into the area scoring low across the keeper. No sooner had the rest of the lads congratulated him than he was called off and replaced by Miller.

With the game won Lesniak was replaced by Amos. Ogilvie conceded a foul just outside the area when he was turned. As he walked away, the referee showed him a yellow card. Mouritsen took the free kick and hit it wide of the right post. Then, as Spurs were looking to see out the game, Nordsjaelland sought to break down the left. McQueen steered the player out of play who then got up and had a go at the Spurs defender. As players closed in, the referee was quick to drag Alex away and then showed him a second yellow which was followed by a red.

With Spurs reduced to ten men they attacked down the left crossing to the far post where Sonupe fired against the near post and as the ball went across the goalmouth Akindayini forced it in for 4-0. Voss had to be alert to tip over a long range dipping ball for a last minute corner.

That win put Spurs on top of the group after two games. The group look like this:-

     Team          Pts    GD
Tottenham Hotspur   4     +4
Cercle Brugge       3     +1
Standard Liege      3      0
FC Nordsjaelland    3     -1
SV Zulte-Waregem    3     -3
Valenciennes FC     1     -1

This was a lot better than last year for the Spurs youngsters. Anderlecht, who finished bottom last year, are joint top of Group A with West Ham on 6pts. Tomorrow Spurs play the three Belgium sides to finish the group stage starting with SV Zulte-Waregem.

Ray

· Ray Lo's report on Day Two of this tournament
· Ray Lo's report on our semi-final in this tournament
· Ray Lo's report on the third place play-off of this tournament

· More information about this year's Eurofoot 2013

Follow @spursodyssey