Tottenham played their first match of the preseason today in Singapore in a thrilling match against Juventus in the International Champions Cup. Pochettino's men had definitely made the brighter start and looked more dangerous as Erik Lamela opened the score in the 30th minute to comfortably close the first half of the game.
This was until two goals by goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo and the Argentine Gonzalo Higuain brought Juventus ahead in the 56th and 60th mark and left the Londoners heading home with a preseason loss.
Lucas Moura then managed to level the score, and it looked like the two European giants were heading to penalties until Harry Kane appeared.
The England striker came on in the second half and in the third minute of stoppage time, he beautifully picked up the ball from the halfway line; seeing Wojciech Szczęsny was off his line, he decided to take the shot.
It was lobed to the former Arsenal keeper from 60 yards out, and as the final kick of the game, Harry Kane gave Spurs the 2-3 lead ending the match with a beautiful goal.
"It's probably one of the best goals of my career. I noticed the keeper was often off of his line and thought if I get a chance to shoot I will, and it just went in," Kane said in a post-match interview.
Mauricio Pochettino gave starts to a few youngsters, including 17-year old Irish striker Troy Parrott, who made his senior debut in a starting role, and also have Tanguy Ndombele his debut as a Tottenham Hotspur player.
Young center back Japhet Tanganga also started alongside Toby Alderweireld in defense, as did Anthony Georgiou. Oliver Skipp began the match in the center of midfield alongside Harry Winks, while Dele Alli, Erik Lamela, and Son Heung-Min also were on the team sheet; Paulo Gazzaniga started in goal for Hugo Lloris, Spurs' usual choice, who has fallen ill.
Mauricio Sarri, in his first Juventus lineup, came out with a strong team, starting Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo, Miralem Pjanic, Blaise Matuidi, Emre Can, and Joao Cancelo among others in what could be a starting lineup in Serie A.
However, it did not include any of his new signings, which came as a surprise, especially the latest widely reported signing of Matthijs De Ligt, who was only brought in for a few minutes of the second half, and could have considerably helped in Juventus' at times shaky defence.
July 21, 2019