It was the first preseason game of manager Diego Simeone’s squad as Torres said that they have to “train with intensity, play with intensity” because “every game is important”.
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Spain’s Atletico Madrid beat England’s Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in their International Champions Cup pre-season match in Melbourne with their goalkeeper Jan Oblak pulling off two magical saves on Friday.
Tottenham Hotspur’s last match was against Juventus earlier in the week and they lost 2 – 1, before that they played Newcastle United and lost 5 – 1. Anton Walkes failed to clear Gabi’s flighted free-kick, and Godin was on hand to prod the ball past Michel Vorm and into the net.
Diego Godin scored a first-half victor for Atletico, executing their much-honed gameplan; soak up the pressure and strike.
Janssen was the chief beneficiary of Spurs’ more lively showing, perhaps because of Lamela’s promotion to the starting eleven.
Reliable for Atleti did it again, with a strong defensive showing as well as being a typical threat from the set piece to open the scoring late in the first half.
Spurs were inches away from taking the lead on 10 minutes when a scramble in the area presented Onomah with the ball, but he sent a volley crashing against the bar.
Unfortunately, two of Spurs’ promising youngsters were involved when the Lilywhites fell behind five minutes before the break.
Argentine winger Erik Lamela scored the lone goal for head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who also featured their newly-signed players Dutch forward Vincent Janssen and Kenyan midfielder Vincent Wanyama.
But the 23-year-old showed why he deserves the gloves at one of the biggest clubs in the world each time.
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Vrsaljko, Oliver, and Fernando Torres will be in Oz.
