hero-image

Euro experience will help young Spurs players - Alderweireld

Football Soccer - UEFA European Championship 2016 - Belgium training session - Knokke-Heist, Belgium - 20/05/16. Belgium's coach Marc Wilmots and players Toby Alderweireld (L) and Divock Origi (R) attend a training session. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

(Reuters) - Playing at the 2016 European Championship will be an invaluable experience for Tottenham Hotspur's young players, defender Toby Alderweireld has said.

The 27-year old, who was named in Belgium's Euro 2016 squad on Tuesday, is one of 11 internationals from Tottenham who will feature at the 24-team tournament in France starting on June 10.

"Of course, it's good for the club that we have a lot of internationals going," Alderweireld told Tottenham's website. (www.tottenhamhotspur.com)

"The experience the players are getting from going to this kind of tournament is massive as well."

Tottenham finished third in the Premier League last season with one of the youngest squads in the division and Alderweireld said playing at the Euros would help his team mates cope with the pressure of expectations in the future.

England's Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Wales' Ben Davies and Austria's Kevin Wimmer, who are all under the age of 25, will represent their countries in the 2016 Euro.

"You take it all back to your club afterwards and you get better, you become more mature and get extra experience from it," Alderweireld added.

Belgium are with Italy, Ireland and Sweden in Group E and play their first match against Italy on June 14.

(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

You may also like