Spurs stars pulled apart after ‘I will kill you’ shouted and punches thrown at half-time

Midway through the game, two Tottenham players got into a furious argument in the locker room over who was in charge of set-pieces.

The altercation that Sandro broke up in the locker room during halftime of a game has been described by the former Tottenham star.

The Brazilian midfielder, who played at White Hart Lane for four seasons between 2010 and 2014, was compelled to intervene when two of his Spurs teammates got into an altercation in the middle of a match. A argument over a free kick led to the brawl.

Left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto typically handled set-piece responsibilities, but creative spark Rafael van der Vaart wanted to take over that role, so he illegally took advantage of a promising free-kick opportunity.

Assou-Ekotto didn’t take well to that, as Sandro recounted in a recent interview. Assou took this very personally, he exclusively revealed to Ladbrokes Fanzone.

He was quite unhappy since he believed that was his ball and that he should have shot. As a bunch of guys playing with him, we usually simply let Assou do whatever he wanted to do—let him be, you know?

He was furious at the time. When we enter the locker room during halftime, Rafael is being punched by him! He was resisting my attempts to grab hold of him since he was so powerful, then I grabbed hold of him and dragged him away from Rafa.

“Why did you take the shot, he asks? How come you done this? You don’t take it, my friend; it’s my ball! I’ll murder you the next time! He was furious. When we arrive for training the following day, Van der Vaart approaches me and says, “Sandro, you saved my life. Thank you very much.”

When Assou-Ekotto first discussed the fight in the media, he said to The Athletic in February 2022: “After that, we grew even closer. I fought with him on Sunday, then a few days later, he hands me the ball, and I score against Everton. We were close, and he was content.

In contrast, Jermaine Jenas claimed on talkSPORT that the two were “going at it naked” in September. “We enter, and as everyone is changing, I hear a ruckus coming from the showers. Rafa and Benoit are fighting in the open! It was essentially stopped right away, he claimed.