"You don’t want to know what happened!" - Tottenham manager Antonio Conte reacts to Harry Kane chants by Brentford fans
Harry Kane was mocked by Brentford fans during their Premier League home clash against Tottenham Hotspur on 25 December. Kane missed a penalty while playing for England in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals against France. His miss proved to be costly as the Three Lions bowed out of the tournament in Qatar.
Brentford fans took a jibe at England's all-time top scorer as they chanted toward Kane, "You let your country down."
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, however, believes that the jibe was in a bid to agitate the player as he was playing for their rival team. Speaking after the game, Conte said (via Metro):
"The fans tried to create a problem, but only I think because he was playing for Tottenham and against their team. It’s normal. In Italy you don’t what to know what happened!"
A section of the Brentford fans sing 'You let your country down' in the direction of Harry Kane. Sparks boos from travelling Spurs supporters, who sing 'He's one of our own' and then take aim at Ivan Toney with 'Toney, what's the odds?' and 'You're getting sacked in the morning'
He further added:
"When they play national team together they are the best. Then when they start together in the league, the fans find ways to disrupt the other players of the opponents, because in this moment they are a player for the opponent and can hurt your team."
Spurs' performance, however, was on the same note as their pre-World Cup showings. They were underwhelming and found themselves down within 15 minutes when Vitaly Janelt found the back of the net from close range. Ivan Toney added another for the hosts in the second half of the game.
Harry Kane initiated a comeback with a finely-taken header. Pierre-Emile Holjberg quickly equalized for the visitors in the 71st minute of the game.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte insisted that Harry Kane didn't take the chants personally
Antonio Conte is confident that Tottenham talisman Harry Kane didn't take the fans' jibe personally, saying:
"No, no. Also in England I think I always found a fantastic atmosphere, a great education and fans really polite. This impressed me a lot because here there is a great education, they are really polite."
Conte further spoke about how Harry Kane has dealt with his FIFA World Cup setback. The Italian coach said:
"Personally, about Harry, I have zero doubt about his quality, about his mentality, about the way he approached every game and every training session. For sure, for Harry, he’s facing a strange situation because he played a really good World Cup. I think that also because he played a good World Cup and the team played the quarter-final, then he missed this penalty. It was a decisive penalty for England to drop out."
Disappointed we gave ourselves a lot to do in the second half but good resilience to come back and finish strong. https://t.co/lpdCZp44Tx
Antonio Conte further said:
"But you know very well, football is this. You can have positive or negative moments. If you are strong mentally, if you are a top player, if you are a player of a big, big level, then there is a moment you have to put to one side a negative situation and move on.
"I think Harry did this. I repeat we are talking about a really, really good player and especially a good person. For this reason, our fans and also the fans of the other teams should every time clap him."