Antonio Conte says Brentford fans booed Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane because they were ‘scared’ of him
In probably the least surprising bit in Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash against Brentford on Boxing Day, Harry Kane was at the receiving end of some harsh chants from the home fans.
Kane missed a late penalty in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals against France, which his team ended up losing 2-1. The 29-year-old captained his team with distinction in Qatar and was at his playmaking best during the group stages.
He also scored his first goal of the tournament in the last 16 win against Senegal and then netted against France in a lost cause. But those that don’t support Spurs, especially our rivals, were always going to give him stick for that one miss.
It wasn’t any different against our London rivals at the Gtech Community Stadium earlier today. Their chants towards Kane eventually boiled down to them conveying that the Tottenham striker let the Three Lions down during the World Cup.
After the 2-2 draw, where Kane scored the first of Spurs’ two goals in the second half after falling 2-0 behind, Conte was asked to address Brentford fans’ chants towards Kane. The Italian tactician said (h/t Football.London):
“The fans were scared because today he was playing for Tottenham but not for what happened for England. It’s normal. The fans tried to create a problem, but only I think because he was playing for Tottenham and against their team.”
“It’s normal. In Italy you don’t know what happened! (laughs) When they play national team together they are the best. Then when they start together in the league, the fans find ways to disrupt the other players of the opponents, because in this moment they are a player for the opponent and can hurt your team.”
Conte’s response was classy and rational. It is common for opposition fans to pull off all kinds of tricks to distract opposition players – especially the world class ones.
These comments wouldn’t have been directed at Eric Dier because there’s not much the former Sporting CP man can do to tangibly hurt the Bees. Kane scored and shut those up that were on his back, but that doesn’t mean these chants will stop in the near future.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
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- Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira sends transfer plea to Tottenham Hotspur target Wilfried Zaha
- Manchester City could be without Ruben Dias for Tottenham Hotspur clash
He has to brace himself for more such intimidation from opposition fans and continue to perform at the highest level, like he always does.
