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The scar on the right cheek of Juan Foyth sums up the young defender of Tottenham Hotspur.
The Argentinian, who turned 21 last month, is wearing the thin line on his cheek as a badge of honor.
He was rewarded in November after his first call from the national team, colliding with his teammate Walter Kannemann during one of his first workouts with the group.
It was to be feared that Foyth did not fail to make his debut against Mexico that week. He had nothing, insisting that he stay with the group. The injury was sewn, he started against Mexico and saw himself awarding the man of the match award at the final whistle.
That's Foyth in a nutshell. He approaches each challenge with brilliance and a little more talent.
Friday afternoon, the young central defender faced a challenge more terrifying than the elbow of all opponents: a school meeting room full of 200 children.
Accustomed to playing in front of thousands of people, Foyth was still nervous when he entered the Great Hall of Chestnuts Primary School in Tottenham, anxious to please his young audience and concerned about his command of the English language.
He did not need to worry. Foyth's mastery of the English language is much better than he recognizes himself, using a translator only when he really wants to make sure his point is well understood.
He is a bright young man, always smiling, who quickly invaded the youth room who enthusiastically responded to him with satisfying answers to their varied and challenging questions.
He also helped staff of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation give a physical education lesson to a clbad of children as part of the Premier League Primary Stars program, before teaching another group of Spanish words and phrases. of choice.
What soon becomes evident when we see it up close, is that Foyth loves to adapt to new situations. It is this versatility that his coach Mauricio Pochettino is looking for in his players.
Adaptability could be Foyth's mantra, which means adapting to a new country, a new league, a new manager, a new culture and even a new one. a new position.
For those who find his ability to dribble and his remarkable ball skill for an imposing and slightly cheerful central defender, it's because Foyth was an offensive midfielder in Argentina until age 16 years old.
It's Martin Gaimaro, the U16 head coach of Estudiantes, who understands that the young star in full growth of the academy had all the badets to become a star in the back.
"I started playing as an offensive midfielder, but over time, I grew up because I was pretty small and I might have lost a bit of my dribbling ability.That's why I was gradually transferred to a defensive midfielder, and then I found myself central defender at the age of 16. It's late, no? "He asked football.londres.
"At the moment I was happy because when we played small matches, I always said," I am Rio Ferdinand ".
"When I started playing there, it was difficult because I did not touch the ball too much, but after a few games, it was normal and I liked it."
Foyth's slaloming raiding races have already quickly become an essential part of his performance under a Tottenham shirt.
Has his past offensive midfielder given him a different view of his opponents' understanding?
"Maybe so," he thought, "maybe it gives me a bit more confidence, but the problem is that when I play in the middle of the field, I want to take the ball every time, so maybe I have to be careful. "
Foyth's love for defensive and offensive football is highlighted in his wide range of football idols.
I looked up to [Ferdinand] a lot. I liked his physical strength. Lucio from Bayern Munich was another player I watched a lot. I am very attentive to his style, "he said.
"But when I was young, Kaka was my idol because I was playing a little more forward and he was playing in the same position." I watched the games that he played to Milan against Boca Juniors [in 2007’s Club World Cup final and in 2003 in the competition’s predecessor The Toyota Cup].
"It is true that it is rare that the Argentineans idolize the Brazilians, but I liked their style and their personality."
In the end, Argentina will decide the next chapter of Foyth's career.
The young defender had just made his debut in the first Estudiantes team and played a handful of matches towards the end of the 2016/17 season, when PSG and Tottenham tried to sign and set off a battle summer for his services.
The rumor spread quickly about the teenage center defender who had played in the Under-20 World Cup and the French giants seemed to have signed a contract with him.
However, a telephone conversation with Pochettino left no doubt to Foyth about his destination.
"I had the opportunity to talk to Mauricio and he told me that I had very good traits but he was going to improve that, I'm learning slowly, but I have a lot of support," admitted Foyth.
"More than anything, I chose Tottenham because there was an Argentinian manager and the coaching staff was Argentinian – or they can speak Spanish. Then also because it was a club that has a lot of support for young players.
"Another reason that influenced my decision was that the manager was also a defender and so he could have very good recommendations and advice to give me, I think I improved physically, but improvements are possible. "
He explained further: "The game in Argentina is pretty physical too but maybe a little more disorganized, so when you come here, if your body physically is not quite ready, you really feel the difference .
"I think I improved my skills as a defender because I did not play very long as a defender, this area improves every day."
The next challenge for Foyth was to settle in England. His departure from Argentina entailed a cost, fragmenting his very united family who sought to support him at once, as well as his sister Karen.
Even his sweetheart Ariana – Foyth suggested to him last month – has to spend a lot of his time in their home country.
"My family resides mainly in Argentina, my father is here to support me and help me in all that I can play football," said the defender Spurs.
"That's what I wanted and it's my dream, so he helps me with a lot of things.
"I'm engaged now but all my family and my girlfriend are still living in Argentina, my sister is studying there, my mother has now finished her work, but my girlfriend is also studying, and next year, my girlfriend, I think She's coming. "
Foyth once confided that arriving at the Spurs in the summer of 2017 had been nerve-wracking, as his only experience of the club's stars had played FIFA like them on his game console.
But, along with his father Ariel, what also helped Foyth is his close Spanish-speaking friendship group with his fellow Argentinian Erik Lamela and Paulo Gazzaniga, the Colombian Davinson Sanchez and the former leader of the group, the Spanish Fernando Llorente.
"Fernando looks like my big brother, all the players are really good," he said. "At first, when I arrived, I was very nervous because of the status of the players but they were really good guys and the second or third day here, I was relaxed and I had everything appreciated. "
For Foyth, the climate of England is also very different from the one where he was born and raised – La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, where the weather in February is about 30 degrees centigrade.
"In Argentina, it can be cold too, but when it's hot there, it's cold here, so maybe you can see pictures of your home and people are in the sun and you say" oh .. "," he laughs.
"But it's good to be here, I want to be here, it's my dream, so I like it, I do not care about the weather.
"Maybe with the car [it was difficult], driving across the road, but in just two weeks, everything is fine! "
It was not easy for Foyth. His first season came and went without an appearance in the Premier League because he had to take the risk of impressing the national cup.
He made only one appearance in the Champions League, in a merciless match against Apoel Nicosia, after the Spurs had already dominated the group, before Pochettino had to announce him a bad news.
The arrival of Lucas Moura from PSG at the deadline of January 2018 added to the club already exceeded the limit of foreign players and forced the boss of the Spurs to make a "painful" decision and to tell Foyth that he would be excluded from the Champions League. team.
The young defender could have taken his foot off or expressed disappointment, but Pochettino said he took him as a professional and that a year later, Foyth had not changed his speech.
"He explained and understood me because it might be necessary to have another player at my post," said the 21-year-old.
"I also understood that there was a hierarchy in the club and among the players and that I had to win my place there."
Foyth only played five FA Cup matches in the rest of the campaign and his season ended in February.
All hope that he had to make an impression on Pochettino and coaches in the pre-season, in the absence of the club's World Cup stars, was choked by a thigh injury that only left him. 39; did not stop leaving the team's US tour, but also the first month. of the season.
Many reports link Foyth to a loan agreement with Leeds United, world champion, to build ties with his compatriot and Argentine Pochettino, Marcelo Bielsa. However, such an approach never entered Foyth's mind.
"We never said anything about it, so I do not know if it was true or not," he said.
"I have to be guided by what my agent said, but the season was really starting and I really wanted to be here, even though I did not have a job. [in the Champions League squad] and I just wanted to learn from day to day. "
The Spurs' inability to sell players this summer meant that Foyth was missing once again from the European team, but his patience was finally rewarded when the injuries inflicted on Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez offered him great opportunity this season.
He finally made his Wolves Premier League debut on November 3rd. It was an unforgettable start. Foyth was in excellent shape throughout the match, until he conceded two late penalties to allow the hosts to enter the match.
The Spurs held on for the 3-2 win, but Foyth's pain at the point attracted a lot of attention. Pochettino, however, supported the young central defender.
"I think he understood, he was a central defender like me, he played at my post and he told me that it was a situation he was in." explained Foyth.
"He always supports us and this gives you the confidence to go ahead and keep working.It is really, really nice."
Foyth rebounded by scoring the winner in the next game at Crystal Palace – his first senior goal. His performances continued to impress Pochettino – who may have seen a little in the confident young defender – and Foyth started accumulating appearances in the Premier League against Chelsea, Arsenal, Southampton and Bournemouth.
The coaches of Argentina had long watched Foyth and, having already been questioned about Pochettino early in the season, while he was injured, the timing was well chosen for this first visit.
"It is obviously a dream to realize and I hope that there will be plenty of other opportunities to do it," explained the defender about his debut against Mexico.
However, the current exile of Lionel Messi within the national team has prevented Foyth from trying his luck on the pitch with arguably the best player in the world.
"It will be a dream [if he returns], "admitted Foyth. I trained with him when I was playing for the U20s. The U20s trained with the first team.
"It was amazing – it was just a workout, so it was quieter, but he still dribbled the old players whenever he wanted to."
Has Foyth ever attacked Messi? "No no no!" came the answer with a laugh.
With regard to his homeland, he also had the pain to look at the tragic story of another Argentine who was to launch his own career in England – Emiliano Sala.
Foyth, along with Lamela and Gazzaniga, had talked about social media in their efforts to continue researching the plane carrying the attacker and pilot David Cardbot City City after his crash near Guernsey last month.
However, when Foyth sits with football.londresIt was the day after the plane and Sala's body had been found.
"For everyone in football and all Argentineans, it's horrible news," admitted the young defender.
"But now, the important thing is to be behind his family and let them know that they have all our support and try to help them.
"This puts football in perspective and reminds everyone to really enjoy their career.It is precisely what you think when such things happen.Today, by checking the news, j & rsquo; I learned that Flamengo boys died as a result of an accident.Another very sad piece of news. "
Foyth is a smart young man, which is clear when you talk to him. The answers are sent to you either in unmodified English or in more detail through the translator. He understands each question that is asked without the need for translation.
This brightness and this willingness to learn have helped to accept everything that Pochettino asks his players.
Foyth's progression this season has impressed more than one. And with Mousa Dembele's exit to China last month, Pochettino made it clear that the defender had earned the right to be reinstated in the club's Champions League team and that he has been duly reinstated in the list. The 16 first leg matches against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Wednesday.
"It's a great joy for me," said Foyth. "It's really nice to play these last stages of this competition."
Then there is the future in the long run. Some people have suggested that, like Eric Dier, Foyth could eventually return to the role of midfielder because of his ball skill, dribbling and pbading interest.
"I do not know [if it’s a future role for me]. Maybe the technical team, they see that it's something they think about, but I would not know it, "he admitted. If they want me to play in any position, I will do it. "
For Foyth, it is now a matter of continuing to move forward and he is wise enough to know that the process would progressively proceed in the vicinity of Tottenham.
"I knew it would not be easy, that I would not participate in the first matches," he said.
"But I have talked with the technical team and worked with her to improve my condition and my skills and put them forward. I am really happy about this job."
The same goes for Pochettino and the development of Foyth fills many people in Tottenham with the hope that they have found a defender who could steer their background for years.
This is not a big challenge for Foyth, it's another thing to take in his long-legged stride.
Juan Foyth was speaking at Chestnuts Primary School in Tottenham, where Tottenham Hotspur was introducing the Premier League Primary Stars program, an initiative that provides physical education support to teachers to help them feel more confident and to learn better. knowledge by providing quality physical activity and sports clbades.
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