Guglielmo Vicario opens up on bizarre incident with travelling Tottenham fans after defeat to AZ Alkmaar
Tottenham Hotspur will have work to do in the return leg in North London after being beaten 1-0 by AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of the Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday evening.
Given how AZ Alkmaar smashed Turkish giants Galatasaray in the previous round, Spurs knew going into the clash at the AFAS Stadium that it they’d need a herculean effort to get a result. To the fans’ dismay, Ange Postecoglou’s side failed to show up on the night. They were flat and struggled to create too many chances of note against a well-drilled AZ Alkmaar defence.
Instead, the North Londoners were lucky to escape with just a 1-0 defeat from the AFAS Stadium. Although the game’s only goal came as a result of Lucas Bergvall slicing the ball into his own net in the first half, the Eredivisie side were full value for their win over Tottenham.
Son Heung-min acknowledged that Tottenham were ‘nowhere near’ their best, admitting that it is a big wake-up call ahead of next week’s ‘biggest game of the season’.
After the final whistle, Tottenham players went over to the travelling section of the AFAS Stadium to thank and acknowledge them for their relentless support. Spurs’ No.1 Guglielmo Vicario caused the biggest stir among the travelling supporters with his actions. The Italian attempted to rally the away fans at full-time, gesturing for more support
However, this did not sit well with many fans that were present as they felt the goalkeeper’s actions were inappropriate given the nature of the performance. After the gesture did not go down well with the majority of the travelling Spurs supporters, Guglielmo Vicario has since explained the logic behind it. He admits the fans have every right to be disappointed with the performance in the 1-0 defeat to AZ.
“They can do [that]. They have to be, they must be disappointed for the game we played but we still have another game to play against AZ at our place, so it’s the moment to stick together now because we can go through this round,” Vicario told Football London.
“I can [understand] the disappointment for the night because we didn’t play our football. So I can understand the frustration of the fans. But we still have a lot to play for, especially in the second leg.
“It’s just a way of trying to stay together because we have the opportunity to go through to the next round.
“Of course we need them every game, home and away. We know they are very important for us and now is a big moment of the season and with them we can play with one more man on the pitch so it’s so important.
“I can really understand the disappointment they had because we didn’t show our level of football. It’s disappointing for us but we have to analyse and forget, and be ready for the next round.
“The performance is nowhere near the level we should have played this game. We know, it’s frustrating.
“The result of course is not great. But we have to play the second leg, so it’s on us. Now we have to analyse but also forget straight away this game. We have a big game on Sunday and ready for the second leg next Thursday.”
Guglielmo Vicario was one of the rare bright spots for the Lilywhites from the game, making some key saves. He made crucial saves to deny Troy Parrott and Ernest Poku, ensuring that Postecoglou’s side are still alive in the Europa League.
There is no denying the big Italy international’s contribution on the night. Without his efforts, Spurs could have been looking at a far greater deficit heading into the second leg. On another day, a listless display like that could have easily been punished ruthlessly by the opponent, leaving them with a mountain to climb in the return leg.
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The travelling Spurs fans were well within the rights to criticise the team if they felt the effort, performance, and standards were not up to the required standards. However, Vicario is one of the most passionate players in the squad and his actions were not wrong. In fact, he tried to keep the fans and our team united ahead of next week’s biggest game of the season.
