A furious argument erupted in the Tottenham locker room midway through a match about who would handle set-piece duties.
Former Tottenham Hotspur player Sandro has recounted his account of a brawl he broke up in the locker room at a match’s half-time.
The Brazilian midfielder, who played four seasons at White Hart Lane between 2010 and 2014, was compelled to step in after two of his Spurs teammates battled in the middle of a game. A free-kick controversy sparked the incident.
Left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto was typically in charge of set-pieces, but creative spark Rafael van der Vaart wanted to take over, so he took advantage of a promising free-kick opportunity without permission.
Assou-Ekotto was not pleased, according to Sandro in a new interview. “Assou took this very personally,” he told Ladbrokes Fanzone exclusively.
“He was upset because that was his ball, and he was going to shoot.” As a bunch of guys playing with him, we basically simply let Assou do whatever he wanted… let him do it, you know?
“He was furious at the time. We walk into the locker room at halftime to find him punching Rafael! I tried to grab him, but he was too powerful for me, so I’m grabbing him and hauling him back because he’s attempting to attack Rafa.
‘Why did you take the shot?’ he asks. What motivated you to accomplish this? It’s my ball, my friend, and you’re not going to steal it! I’ll murder you the next time!’ He was furious. The next day at training, Van der Vaart approaches me and says, “Sandro, you saved my life… thank you very much.”
Assou-Ekotto first commented publicly about the fight in February 2022, telling The Athletic, “After that, we became even closer.” I had a quarrel with him on Sunday, then a few days later he throws me the ball and I score against Everton. He was content, and we were close.”
Meanwhile, Jermaine Jenas revealed on talkSPORT in September that the duo were “going at it naked.” “We walk in, everyone gets changed, and then I hear this commotion in the showers.” Rafa and Benoit are fighting nude! “It was pretty much stopped right away,” he claimed.
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