TOTTENHAM LEFT-BACK ASSOU-EKOTTO, WHO SAYS FOOTBALL IS JUST HIS JOB, NOT A PASSION, MAKES ANOTHER SURPRISE CONFESSION Published: 2013-07-10 MYSTERY MAN ... Brazil star Paulinho was a nobody to Spurs left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto BENOIT ASSOU-EKOTTO admits he has never heard of his new £17million Spurs team-mate Paulinho. The Tottenham left-back made his confession during a TV interview. And Cameroon international Assou-Ekotto also revealed he did not know who ex-Spurs star Rafael van der Vaart was when he turned up at training. Brazilian playmaker Paulinho sealed his move from Corinthians on Saturday. Last month the 24-year-old scored a late equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw against England in Rio’s Maracana. But when Assou-Ekotto was asked by a TV reporter if he had ever heard of the midfielder, he said: “No. I don’t follow this kind of news.” When the pundit said some fans would find that odd, he added: “Maybe but I don’t know what he looks like.” The 29- year-old defender has previously said he is not that interested in football. In his interview Assou-Ekotto, who is called Benni by his pals, admitted: “Two or three years ago, Rafael van der Vaart was at the training ground and I said ‘Hello’ but didn’t know he was Rafael van der Vaart. “I don’t understand people who don’t understand me. “I don’t go with them to their homes. I am just with them at the job.” This is the latest bizarre incident involving Assou- Ekotto, who freely admits that: “Football is not my passion — it’s only a job.” Ex-Spurs boss Harry Redknapp once said: “Benoit is a strange boy. He’s a bit highly strung and hardly speaks English. “If you say something to him, he’s hard work. He hasn’t improved his English in the couple of years he’s been here. “Sometimes he doesn’t know who we are playing. “He’ll turn up Wednesday and play great but he won’t know we’re playing Fulham until someone tells him. “That’s how he is. He’s unreal. He walks off and he’s thinking about the music he’s going to play when he puts his headphones on.” While his team-mates drive a fleet of flashy motors, Assou-Ekotto goes to training in a Smart. He shrugs off the jibes about his car by insisting: “I live in London — what do I need a big car for?” The defender arrived from Lens in June 2006 and has been linked with a £3m move to Turks Fenerbahce.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 06:26:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015