Connections - France, 4

In the last part of our French Connection we have the first Frenchman to win International honours whilst at Tottenham, the one that has played for two different countries, our most recent European encounter, some more links at international level and a few more Frenchmen who swapped their homeland for N17.

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Benjamin Stambouli was signed from Montpellier in August 2014. He made just 12 appearances for Tottenham before moving to PSG the next summer. He scored in the Europa League V Partizan Belgrade and was an unused substitute in the League Cup Final. An Under 21 international he did not represent his country while he was with Spurs. 

Our latest meeting with a French side in Europe came this season just finished, 2015-16. The Group stage of the Europa League saw us visit Monaco. Lamela gave us the lead in the 35th  minute and Tottenham looked in control but failed to kill the game off and they leveled with ten minutes to spare in a ground that seemed half full.  
 
Left Chadli in the first leg

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Erik Lamela again was the star with a first half hat trick when they visited White Hart Lane in the last group game, Tottenham had already qualified but needed a win to ensure finishing top of the group. He opened the scoring in the second minute as Tottenham looked in control throughout the game and he scored again in the15th and 37th minutes. The second half saw them score on the hour but Tom Carroll with his first European goal made it 4-1 in the game that Josh Onomah made his first start for Spurs.

We have also met Monaco in friendly games on three occasions. The first coming in February 1988. The game saw the return of Glenn Hoddle to WHL who with the French side who were top of the French League and the visitors won 0-4.  The following year they returned to the Lane and this time, without a injured Hoddle, winning 1-3. Our goal coming from John Moncur. The last was in a pre-season game in Monaco in 2013 which saw them win 2-5. Harry Kane and Andros Townsend scoring for Spurs, (17).

Right - Benjamin Stambouli

Younes Kaboul was the first French man to represent his country as a Spurs player when he won an Under 21 cap in September  2007. Then in 2011 he won the club’s first full French cap when he also scored his only international goal V Ukraine. All of his five caps came while he was with Tottenham.

He Joined Spurs from Auxerre in 2006. In his first spell with the club he scored four times in 29 games. Including one in Europe and was a substitute in the League Cup Final.

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He will however be best remembered in that spell for scoring the fourth goal in our 4-4 draw with Aston Villa in the game that marked the clubs 125th anniversary. Top Image minus shirt leaping into Martin Jol's arms. That summer, after his criticism of new manager Juane Ramos he moved to Portsmouth. Harry Redknapp brought him back to the Lane in January 2010. That May he turned up on the right wing and provided the center for Peter Crouch to score the goal that ensured we qualified for the Champions League. Then in the November when we trailed Arsenal by two goals before pulling level he scored the winning goal. He left the club a second time in July 2015 moving to Sunderland after another 89 games (111 in total) and when he added another four goals. Younes was in the French squad that beat England in 2010 but did not feature in the game (12).

The other player to win a French Under 21 cap at spurs is Dorian Dervitte (left). His only first team appearance came in the League Cup and he later joined Bolton wanderers.
 
On the international front France met England in the 1966 World Cup in a game that featured Jimmy Greaves and future Spur Martin Peters (13). This was the game that Jimmy gashed his shin and missed the next game and was then able to regain his place in the side.

The next connection came in 1969  when Alf Ramsey’s side won 5-0 at Wembley with Alan Mullery playing. 1984 Glenn Hoddle and Graham Roberts were alongside Luton’s Paul Walsh.

Then Gary Lineker came off the bench in 1992 to score at  Wembley. The sides met again that summer in the Euro’s when Gary captained the team in a 0-0 draw (14).

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Sol Campbell and Teddy Sheringham were in the England side that won in France in 1997 alongside ex-Spur Paul Gascoigne. Darren Anderton played in the 1999 meeting and he was joined by Campbell when they met again the following year. The 2004 Euros saw Ledley King involved (15). Then in 2008 and William Gallas was in the French side as they beat David Bentley (Blackburn) and Crouch (Liverpool) in the England team.

Pascal Chimbonda (right) shares the distinction along with Younes Kaboul of signing for Tottenham twice. He was also born in Guadeloupe in the Leeward Islands like two other Spurs players (12). He started his career with Le Havre and arrived at White Hart Lane via Wigan, where he was named in the PFA team of the year. In the next two years he played 65 games and scored three times from full back.

He experienced the highs by winning the League Cup in 2008 and the lows by missing a penalty V PSV Einhoven went they knocked us out of the UEFA Cup. He moved to Sunderland. He was resigned by Tottenham six months later in January 2009 and moved again, this time to Blackburn the following August. In his second spell he made only three appearances. Pascal won his first full cap for France in a friendly V Denmark in 2006 a few weeks before signing for Spurs.

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He  has also played six games for Guadeloupe, the only one of our three links to that Island to have done so. Three of these were in 2003 when he played in the qualifying competition for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The other three were in 2012 after his French appearance in the Caribbean Cup. This despite the Island not being a full member of FIFA.
 
If you know of any other French Connections with Tottenham worthy of a mention not covered in this series do please contact me.
 
COYS
Keith Harrison.
t- Keith 16024542
f- peter shearman (old non de plume)
You can my full archive at -  View Full Bio
 
Notes - 12 - See part three. 
13 - see the - Flying Down to Rio series, http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-the-international-index
14 - See - Spurs and the Euros - part 5.
15 - Spurs and the Euros - part 7.
17 - Monaco isn’t part of France it is of course its own Principality, but the team play in the French League.