Spurs stars win awards

Wednesday, 16/11/2011

by James Willis, Shoot's Tottenham blogger

It was a huge week for Tottenham's international stars, particularly the English contingent, with some big wins for the Spurs boys.

The most notable of these wins was England's victory over World and European champions Spain. It was the first time England have beaten a number one FIFA ranked side since the the rankings were introduced, and much of the credit went to Spurs midfield stalwart Scott Parker.

Parker was instrumental in midfield, pulling the strings all game long and managed to put in a performance which outshone that of both Xavi and Andres Iniesta in the Spain midfield, which is an incredible achievement. He went on to win man of the match, which was not undeserved.

In the following England friendly, against Sweden, on Tuesday, it was again a Tottenham player who shone through. With many changes made from the Spain game, Capello gave Kyle Walker his first start.

The young right back didn't disappoint either, making deep runs into the opponents territory all game long while also being solid defensively when required. His performance saw him also win the man of the match award, making it a very impressive week for the Spurs players.

At Under-21 level, Adam Smith was once again involved in both England matches, playing at right back for the full 90 minutes in both games. England beat Iceland convincingly on Thursday, but lost 2-1 to Belgium.

The two matches signified Tom Carroll's first call up to England Under-21s and, although the youngster didn't play, he looks set to be called up again soon in the future if he keeps up his good form for Tottenham in the Europa League.

Elsewhere, Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka could all make appearances at the 2012 European Championships following a successful play off game against Turkey.

Modric played an instrumental role in both legs of the tie, while Corluka only managed the first game due to his suspension for the second match. Kranjcar was injured for both matches, but will be a likely call up for the national team next summer.

In a week which was largely filled with friendly matches for international squads, there were a few Spurs players who remained at the club instead of linking up with their national teams as usual during the international break.

Both Younes Kaboul and Rafael dan der Vaart were left out of their national team squads in order to rest. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Bale, Giovani Dos Santos and Steven Pienaar were all included in their respective national teams over the course of the week as well. Sandro was also called up to the Brazil squad for the match against Gabon, in which he scored his first full international goal.

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