Mauricio Pochettino reminded of penalty incident involving Michael Owen at World Cup
Tuesday 13 December 2016 16:38, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says he was stupid for allowing Michael Owen to win a penalty against him when England played Argentina at the 2002 World Cup.
Ex-Argentina international Pochettino gave away a contentious penalty against England, which was converted by David Beckham, who laid to rest his demons after being sent off against the same opposition at France 1998.
But the Spurs boss holds no grudge against former England striker Owen, who he has met on a number of occasions since that 1-0 win for Three Lions in Sapporo.
"I don't remember," Pochettino said tongue-in-cheek when asked about his recollection of the incident on Tuesday.
"Thank you for reminding me! That is football. I accept that football is like this. I was stupid, very stupid in that situation and I paid for that.
"I have met Owen many times since. I admired him as a player and I admire him as a man.
"Last time we met I enjoyed talking about strikers' positions and movement in the box. It was fantastic to learn from him."
Pochettino was asked the question ahead of Wednesday night's visit of Hull. Tigers winger Robert Snodgrass won a penalty in last weekend's 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace but later admitted on social media there had been no contact made by Eagles defender Scott Dann, prompting a debate in recent days about retrospective action against players.
"I had dinner with [former Spurs player and boss] Ossie Ardiles and we were saying that 30 years ago it was the same - or sometimes worse - but there were no cameras to show the situation," Pochettino added.
"It happened in the past and it will happen in the future too, but it is difficult to ban a player on TV evidence. I like technology and I like fair play but some things you can't control. You need to accept the referee's decision always needs to be right."
