Tottenham to take PSV to task
Friday, February 22, 2008
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Two former UEFA Cup winners meet in London as two-time winners Tottenham Hotspur FC look to deny PSV Eindhoven a place in this season's quarter-finals.
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Two former UEFA Cup winners meet in London as two-time winners Tottenham Hotspur FC look to deny PSV Eindhoven a place in this season's quarter-finals.
• Tottenham are on the hunt for a third UEFA Cup, having won the competition in 1971/72 and 1983/84 while PSV claimed the trophy in 1977/78.
• Despite their strong European pedigree, Tottenham and PSV have never met in European competition. However, they met in a pre-season friendly at White Hart Lane on 3 August 2003, with goals from Ji-Sung Park and Arjen Robben giving PSV a 2-0 win.
• Having beaten Chelsea FC 2-1 after added time in the English League Cup final on 24 February, Tottenham are already certain of a return to the UEFA Cup next year.
• Spurs have played in ten previous UEFA club competition games against Dutch opposition, winning five, drawing three and losing two. Those five two-leg ties ended in three overall wins for Tottenham and two defeats. At White Hart Lane, their record against Dutch sides reads won two and drawn three.
• Eight of Tottenham's ten European games against Dutch sides have been against Feyenoord. They beat them 5-2 on aggregate in the first round of the 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup, but then lost 4-2 on aggregate to the Rotterdam side in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup final.
• Spurs avenged that defeat in the second round of the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, winning 6-2 on aggregate en route to winning the competition, but Feyenoord had the upper hand again in the quarter-finals of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, winning 1-0 on aggregate.
• The two sides were set to meet again in last season's UEFA Cup Round of 32 but Tottenham were give a bye to the next round after Feyenoord were thrown out of the competition as punishment for crowd problems.
• Tottenham's only European tie against a Dutch club other than Feyenoord saw them meet AFC Ajax in the first round of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Spurs won 3-1 in Amsterdam and 3-0 at White Hart Lane to complete a 6-1 triumph.
• Tottenham's Spanish coach Juande Ramos remains on course to win a third successive UEFA Cup, having claimed the previous two as coach of Sevilla FC.
• Ramos' Sevilla lost 2-1 at home against PSV's Eredivisie rivals AZ Alkmaar in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage in what was the coach's only previous game against Dutch opposition. PSV's former AZ striker Danny Koevermans did not play in that match, however.
• Sef Vergoossen has been placed in charge of PSV for the remainder of the season, at which point he will be replaced by Hamburger SV's Huub Stevens. The 60-year-old, who took over following Ronald Koeman's move to Valencia CF, previously coached VVV Venlo, Roda JC, KRC Genk, Al-Jazira Club and Nagoya Grampus Eight.
• Tottenham's Ivorian midfielder Didier Zokora played under Vergoossen at Genk prior to joining AS Saint-Etienne in 2004. He won the Belgian title with Genk under Vergoossen in 2001/02.
• PSV have played 26 games against English sides in UEFA club competition, winning eight, drawing seven and losing eleven. Those matches included eight two-leg knockout ties, of which PSV won four and lost four. In England, their record reads won three, drawn two and lost eight.
• While PSV have never played Tottenham, they have met their north London rivals Arsenal six times in the last six years. In the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League first group stage, they lost 4-0 at home against the Gunners but drew 0-0 in the return at Highbury.
• Two seasons later, the two sides were drawn together again in the group stage, with PSV losing 1-0 in London and drawing 1-1 at home.
• However, all previous defeats were avenged in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League first knockout round, as Edison Méndez's goal gave them a 1-0 lead in the home leg which they preserved with a 1-1 draw at Arsenal Stadium, with Brazilian defender Alex – now in London with Chelsea FC – scoring at both ends.
• Tottenham's Korean left-back Lee Young-Pyo joined the club from PSV in the summer of 2005. He won league titles in the Netherlands with PSV in 2002/03 and 2004/05 as well as the Dutch Cup in the latter campaign.
• PSV's Jan Kromkamp has experience of English football, having played for Liverpool FC for around six months in the latter part of the 2005/06 season before joining PSV. He came on as a substitute in the Reds epic 2005/06 FA Cup final win against West Ham United FC. Liverpool won 3-1 penalties after a 3-3 draw.
• PSV defender Alcides and Tottenham's Ricardo Rocha played together at Benfica before moving on to their respective clubs. The pair won the Liga title together in 2004/05.
• During a brief loan spell at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2005/06 PSV forward Danko Lazović – then contracted to Feyenoord – played alongside Tottenham's Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov.
• Tottenham's Kevin-Prince Boateng, Jermaine Jenas and Jamie O'Hara are all within a booking of a one-match suspension. The same goes for PSV's Dirk Marcellis and Danko Lazović.
• PSV beat Helsingborgs IF 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 32 after moving into the competition with a third-placed finish in their UEFA Champions League group. Tottenham finished second in UEFA Cup Group G and then beat SK Slavia Praha 3-2 on aggregate in the first knockout round.
• The second leg will be played in Eindhoven on 12 March. The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the UEFA Cup will be held at UEFA HQ in Nyon on 14 March at 12.00CET.