Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino paid tribute to his players, calling them "superheroes" in the aftermath of their 2-2 draw with Everton on the final day of the season.
An early goal from Eric Dier seemed to set the tone as Spurs dominated the first half. However, following the break, Everton scored two quick fire goals through Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun to turn the game on its head, before Christian Eriksen rescued a point with a superb free-kick in the 75th minute.
With Spurs beating Ajax in their thrilling Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night, Pochettino may have thought that they wouldn't have the energy to compete against the Toffees in this match.
But the Spurs players put in a good performance, which was acknowledged by the Argentinian, who in his post match interview said (via football.london): "First I want to congratulate my players.
"The Premier League season is finished and now we have the Champions League final in Madrid. My players are superheroes, I am so proud of them. The way they have behaved so professionally and what they have achieved is unbelievable.
"Four top four finishes, four Champions League qualifications and the cherry on the cake will be the Champions League final."
The draw with Everton secured Champions League football for Spurs for next year, and the Spurs manager was asked whether at any point he doubted whether his players would make it back into Europe's premier competition.
"Always we were very positive. It’s about handling every situation" he continued. "When you see the circumstances that happen we feel more than proud. Football is about taking risks, football is about being brave, football is about believing and having faith. And working hard, if you don’t work hard it is so difficult."
Spurs will now turn their attention to the Champions League final where they face Liverpool. Pochettino was questioned about how his team would prepare and the 47-year-old was as pragmatic as ever, saying: "We have our idea, we have our plan. We designed our plan. Of course, you know, we need to be natural.
It is not a pre-season, but it is not going to be a holiday. In our mind we have a clear way of how we are going to work in the next three weeks, of course for the player they need to agree, accept and show the faith and trust in us and then of course, if we win, for sure we will have been right."
Source :
90min
