Tottenham Hotspur vs. Stoke City: Harry Redknapp all praises for striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Peter-Crouch-c29741 - EPL news
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp praised striker Peter Crouch, as the Englishman scored two goals to help his side record a 3-2 victory against Stoke City in an English Premier League encounter.
Last week, Crouch was heavily criticized for his red-card against Spanish club Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final (first leg). Two reckless challenges amounted for the striker’s 15th minute sending-off from the game.
Crouch’s departure certainly had negative repercussions on the game for Tottenham as they were beaten convincingly 4-0 by the Los Blancos. The heavy margin of defeat means the English side have a mountain to climb in the second leg as they need to beat Jose
Mourinho's team by at least 5 goals.
The 30-year-old admitted that the sending-off at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium was a low point in his football career.
Crouch said, “That's as low as I've felt just because of the sheer importance of the match, It was the quarter-final of the Champions League at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid. With all those things put together, it was very disappointing.”
“I watched the game in one of the referee's rooms with Rafa (van der Vaart), who came off at half-time. It was really frustrating. With each goal that went in, it felt like I had cost the team,” added the striker.
The striker redeemed himself as he scored two brilliant headers to help his side record an emphatic away win. The victory was Tottenham’s first while traveling in two months.
Manager, Harry Redknapp stated that he was in two minds selecting the striker against Stoke City as he was not sure whether the striker was up for the game psychologically. However, all the doubts disappeared quickly when Crouch proved on the football pitch
that he had put the incident behind him.
While speaking in the after-match press conference, Redknapp said,“I wasn't sure whether to play him and I wasn't sure what reaction he would get from the crowd. Sometimes they can turn on you when they think you're to blame for something but they were great
with him and they made a great atmosphere today. He was okay. He wasn't nervous going into the game.”
Unfortunately for Crouch, he is suspended for Tottenham’s next match when they host Real Madrid for the second-leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final on 13th April 2011.
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