Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero told to return to Tottenham straight away after World Cup final
Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero faced each other in what turned out to be arguably the best FIFA World Cup final to date, where Argentina triumphed over France in penalty shootouts.
This FIFA World Cup in Qatar has seen a remarkably high number of minutes added as stoppage time to ensure that there is more action on the pitch and less time-wasting. Taking that into account, the final last way more than the stipulated 120 minutes.
It finished 3-3 and went the whole distance. It is clear that any player involved in this oddly-timed winter World Cup would need a proper break before returning to action.
It will be highly responsible for teams to bring players, especially those who were involved until at least the semi-finals, straight into the starting XI in their first match after the season resumes.
Spurs will face such a dilemma. Lloris played in six games out of seven for Les Bleus and while one can argue that a goalkeeper doesn’t have much running to do, he has himself admitted he is tired.
Speaking after the final in Qatar, the former Olympique de Lyonnais shot-stopper said (h/t Express):
“We’re leaving a tournament like this one drained and even more so after what happened in the final. We don’t have much strength left, we just want to be back with our families.”
Romero, on the other hand, featured in all seven games for Argentina and played 79% of his nation’s total minutes at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Bear in mind he missed a stretch of games before the World Cup due to an injury.
But former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara believes the duo cannot afford to miss club action and exclusively told talkSPORT:
“It’s the winter World Cup, at the end of the day, you’ve got to get straight back into it. I mean there will be players that miss Carabao Cup games, but you can’t miss a Premier League game.”
“No, you’ve got to come back. This is massive now, Tottenham have got to try and get into the top four and into the Champions League, so I’d be expecting him back for sure.”
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O’Hara is either being a little sarcastic or just trying to get a reaction from fans because it is inconceivable to push Romero and Lloris in such a manner. They have concluded a very demanding tournament after already being put through the ringer at club level due to a highly congested season.
One game without them shouldn’t hurt a team of our quality. That being said, it’s up to manager Antonio Conte to decide if they feature in the Premier League clash against Brentford on 26 December away from home.