Tottenham greats in awe of new stadium

Tottenham's new home has won the approval of several former stars, including Darren Anderton, Dimitar Berbatov and Jurgen Klinsmann.

Published : Mar 31, 2019 19:01 IST

Former Tottenham midfielder Darren Anderton has described the club's new stadium as the best he has ever played, as the plaudits for the new venue continue to roll in.

More than 40,000 fans attended a special fixture between Spurs and Inter legends at the club's new ground on Saturday in a match held as the second test event ahead of the first official game between Mauricio Pochettino's side and Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

READ | Son challenges Spurs to step up

Greats including Jurgen Klinsmann, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov, David Ginola, Rafael van der Vaart and Paul Gascoigne turned out for Spurs, who lost 5-4 to an Inter side featuring Julio Cesar, Javier Zanetti, Laurent Blanc, Juan Sebastian Veron and Nicola Ventola.

Anderton, who was also involved, was left amazed by his old club's new surroundings.

"It's an amazing stadium, the best I've ever played in and even seen," the former England midfielder said. "It is definitely one of the best in the world and the atmosphere was unreal. It really does reverberate around the place."

Klinsmann, who had two spells with Spurs in 1994-95 and 1997-98, said: "The stadium is amazing, simply amazing. I hope the fans will enjoy it as much as I did. And I hope the fans will enjoy a future full of excitement, and obviously trophies.

"Just walking into the stadium, you sense it's something for the future, so I keep my fingers crossed. They will make it their home, they will make it their new place. It's a very, very special stadium.

"For the players, it's a temple. If you can play in a place like that, they will be thrilled. It's all set for a bright future."

Former striker Keane said: "It's definitely up there with one of the best, it has really a good feeling to it as well, when you walk out it has a White Hart Lane feeling to it, there's a spirit of that. It was fantastic, the pitch was amazing."

ALSO READ | Emery on the defensive after no Arsenal players make England squad

Ginola, who starred at White Hart Lane between 1997 and 2000, said: "The stadium is looking amazing. Hopefully, cross fingers, things are going to be fine for the club and now moving forward, no playing at Wembley anymore - except if you play the FA Cup final! Or any finals.

"But I think it's going to be fun to restart a little bit with your home, your home soil."

Berbatov added: "It was loud, and the atmosphere was even more close and intense. I'm sure visiting teams will experience that and it's going to help Spurs in the games as well."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment