Pochettino: "It's a game that it is impossible to be tired for"
Monday 29 April 2019 22:35, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham reached the Champions League semi-finals "because we are a team" and is unfazed by the absence of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.
Lucas Moura urged his team-mates to play like a "family" while he sat alongside Pochettino in Spurs' pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg against Ajax at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday.
"We don't care who scores," the Brazilian said, when asked about filling the void left by the suspended Son and injured Kane.
Pochettino added: "The point is we arrived where we are now because we are a team and we're going to be a team.
"We are not worried."
Son scored three of Spurs' four goals in the two quarter-final legs against Manchester City and will be available for the second leg against Ajax in Amsterdam.
There remains hope Kane will return, too, with Pochettino confirming the England captain is "starting to run" in training following an ankle injury sustained in the first leg against City.
"His rehab is so good but we cannot create an idea that we cannot achieve," Pochettino said, when asked about a potential comeback for Kane in the second leg.
"He's so focused and we will see what happens. We are assessing him every day."
Pochettino blamed "stress and fatigue" for Tottenham's defeat to West Ham on Saturday, but said there will be no excuses for what will be Spurs' first-ever Champions League semi-final appearance.
"It's a game that it is impossible to be tired for," he said. "It's all mental. The energy is going to be there. I have no doubt."
It will also be Pochettino's first time venturing into the final four of the competition.
The Argentine says he is "already living a dream" set out in his first meeting at Daniel Levy's house one afternoon five years ago, when the Spurs chairman was "still in his pyjamas".
"The principal objective was to finish the stadium but remain competitive," said Pochettino. "That was the most important - the ambition of trying to win.
Look how ahead we are. Not any club in football history can repeat another history like Tottenham have made.
"The objective of finishing the stadium was not inside me - I love to play for the glory.
"It was an ambitious project, to save on the financial side to help the club achieve what we have and of course be competitive. That is the thing we feel most proud.
"Look how ahead we are. Maybe we didn't still win a trophy but I think it's massive.
"Not any club in football history can repeat another history like Tottenham have made."
