Ex-Spurs man opens up on ‘fight’ he had with Van der Vaart in dressing room

Benoit Assou-Ekotto has revealed he once fought with Rafael van der Vaart in the dressing room but admitted that he eventually got on well with the Dutchman.

As most Spurs fans will be well aware, Assou-Ekotto was not your average footballer.

The former Spurs defender admitted back in 2010 that he saw playing football as a job rather than as a passion (Guardian) and former boss Harry Redknapp even once revealed that the left-back wanted to be a porn star (Independent).

Assou-Ekotto has now admitted that he did not know who Van der Vaart was when the Dutchman arrived at Spurs from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day in 2010.

The former Cameroonian international said about the Dutchman to The Athletic: “When he came to Tottenham, I didn’t know who he was. He is from Madrid?

“He said hello to everyone in the team and I said hello. I said to one of the players, ‘Who is he?’ And we took the team photo.”

“Sometimes you can work with a partner who is fake for six months to a year but then after a few years he explodes and says, ‘I don’t like that’. You have to say it from day one, and then no more problems.”

“We actually had a fight in the dressing room once about free-kicks. He had an expectation about that, and after that we became even more close.

“On Sunday I had a fight with him, then a few days later he gives me the ball and I score against Everton. He was happy and we were close.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The game simply does not seem to have characters like Assou-Ekotto left anymore, which is a shame.

I think part of the reason is due to the increased media coverage and the rise of social media, which has led to players being heavily media trained from a young age.

As a result, not many showcase their true personality and I believe the game is worse off as a result.

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