Looking at Tottenham Hotspur’s best and worst at Euro 2024 and Copa America

It’s been one long month of football spectacle with both the Euros and the Copa America in full swing and both tournaments got spectacular swansongs with two incredible finals. Spain sent England home (yet again) in Berlin whilst a Lionel Messi-less Argentina (for half the game) handed Colombia a rare defeat in Miami.

Two historic football tournaments with so many similarities to keep football fans hooked yet having enough differences with respect to gameplay, grounds, refereeing and even the crowd – this was indeed a footballing treat.

Tottenham Hotspur had many players with their national teams in this Euros and the performances were a mixed bag. Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were a part of the title-winning Argentina squad. Radu Dragusin had an excellent Euros with Dark Horses Romania. Rodrigo Bentancur was at Marcelo Bielsa’s service for Uruguay.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, as always, was ever-present for the Danes. Micky van de Ven joined an impressive centre-back brigade that Ronald Koeman called up for the Netherlands. Guglielmo Vicario was with the Italy squad, providing cover to Gianluigi Donnaruma.

Amongst these seven players, TTLB takes a look at 2 stars and 2 flops in both tournaments combined:

Stars:

1. Cristian Romero

Mr. dependable. Cristian Romero is a defender born to play football in the physically trying Copa atmosphere. His aggression and passion for defending were on display for Argentina in this tournament. Except for the game against Peru in the group stage when the 26-year-old was afforded a rare rest with his nation already qualifying, Romero played every single minute for Argentina in their title-winning run.

Most impressively for the Tottenham man, despite his front-foot style of defending and almost always being on the face of the opponent, he didn’t receive a single yellow card in this entire tournament – signs of maturity? Spurs must be counting their stars every single day that Romero plays for us and he was easily Tottenham’s best representation in either tournament.

2. Radu Dragusin

The surprise package. Much like the Romanian team in its entirety, not many people knew what Radu Dragusin brought to the table prior to this tournament. His only recognition going into the Euros was that he was the most high-profile name in the Romania squad since he plays for Spurs. Yet, Dragusin was unbelievable.

Romania topped their group against all odds beating the likes of Belgium and Ukraine and put up a spirited performance against the Netherlands before getting knocked out. Much like Romero, Dragusin did not receive a single booking either in the entire tournament. The 22-year-old was one of the best centre-backs in the tournament and Spurs fans should be seeing much more of him in the upcoming season.

Flops:

1. Rodrigo Bentancur

Marcelo Bielsa did not seem to fancy the Tottenham Hotspur man in his midfield. Bentancur hardly featured for Uruguay until the semifinals, playing a grand total of 43 minutes from the bench until the Colombia game, although he did chip in with a goal against Bolivia.

The 27-year-old was afforded his first start of the tournament in the all-important semifinals but lasted just 34 minutes before sustaining an injury and being taken off, not before playing a part in the opposition scoring the only goal of the game. The lesser said about what happened post-match, the better!

Bentancur did make a successful return from injury in a quick turnaround for the third-place match against Canada and started the game, playing 90 minutes and even scoring Uruguay’s opener in a 2-2 draw that his nation won on penalties. Despite scoring two goals, this was a disappointing tournament for a player of Bentancur’s calibre.

2. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Usually, one of the most consistent performers for Denmark, Hojbjerg, much like his entire country had a very weird tournament. The 81-cap veteran played 354 of the 360 minutes his country played in the tournament but was a pale shadow of his usual imperious self.

The 28-year-old did not help Tottenham’s cause of trying and finding him a buyer this transfer window, having fallen out of favour with Ange Postecoglou last season. Having had a few good tournaments in recent times, this Euros was two steps back for Denmark and Hojbjerg, who were knocked out by hosts Germany in the Round of 16. Hopefully, this doesn’t deter Spurs’s pursuit of finding him a buyer.

Notable mentions:

Elsewhere, both Micky van de Ven and Giovani Lo Celso shone in moments for their countries despite not being given many minutes by their respective head coaches. Guglielmo Vicario’s wait for a chance continued, understandably, in Italy’s forgettable tournament.