Spurs ‘beaten on attitude’ by Dinamo Zagreb, says Mourinho
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho has questioned his team’s attitude after their Europa League loss to Dinamo Zagreb.
The North London side crashed out of the competition in the round of 16 with a 3-0 defeat in the second leg.
That was despite them having a two-goal cushion after Harry Kane’s brace in the first part of the tie.
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Mislav Orsic opened the scoring in the 62nd minute this time around, curling a great strike past Hugo Lloris.
He made it two not long afterwards by sweeping an Iyayi Atiemwen cross into the net.
That forced Spurs into extra-time, with a worried Mourinho watching on from the sidelines.
Orsic settled the tie in the 106th minute by sending a great strike into the bottom corner, finishing off a hat-trick in the process.
Reacting to the defeat, Mourinho told BT Sport (via BBC Sport): “If I forget the last minutes of extra-time, where we did something to get a different result and go through, in the 90 minutes and first half of extra-time was one team that decided to leave everything on the pitch.
“They [Dinamo Zagreb] left sweat, energy, blood. In the end they left even tears of happiness. Very humble and committed. I have to praise them. On the other side, my team. They didn’t look like they were playing an important match. If for any one of them it is not important, for me it is.
“For the respect I have for my career and my job, every match is important. For every Tottenham fan at home every match matters. Another attitude is needed.
“To say I feel sad is not enough. What I feel is much more than sadness. I just left the Dinamo dressing room where I went to praise the guys. I feel more than sad. That is it.
“Football is not just about players who think they have more quality than others. The basis of football is attitude. They beat us on that. I told the players the risk of playing the way we were. It happened because I believe the players only realised it was at risk when they scored the second.”