World Cup Winner Romero Accused of Sleeping During Spurs Villa Match

• Tottenham Hotspur lost their opening English Premier League match of 2023 to Aston Villa
• Spurs boss Conte welcomed back two World Cup finalists who both had a hand in the loss
• Villa coach Unai Emery started polarising Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez on the bench

The Premier League opened 2023 with an encounter between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and it was the West Midlanders who reigned supreme against a complacent Spurs.

The two clubs both had players who featured in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup final for their respective nations.

Villa boss Unai Emery chose to start World Cup winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the bench, putting faith in his deputy Robin Olsen.

Antonio Conte handed starts to France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Argentina World Cup winning defender Cuti Romero, and both proved their unreadiness by combining to give Villa their opening goal.

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Lloris fumbled a shot from Douglas Luiz and Romero, who was the closest, failed to react in time.

Ollie Watkins picked up the remains and squared the ball to Emi Buendia, who slotted past the France goalkeeper for the opener.

Romero slammed for sleeping

Former Tottenham player Glenn Hoddle, on duty as a matchday pundit, slammed Lloris for his mistakes in front of goal, as quoted by The Boot Room.

Hoddle did not leave out World Cup winner Romero, who he described as not alive, according to the Daily Mail.

“It’s poor goalkeeping, it’s really poor. [Lloris] has put it back in the danger zone,” he said. “[Romero] was sleeping. He was the one that was the closest. If you look at it again, Romero was on his heel. He was not even aware of that second ball. He doesn’t react; he’s dreaming of cleaning his World Cup medal."

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Emery praises Villa's defensive discipline

Sports Brief earlier reported that Unai Emery praised Villa's defensive discipline as a major reason why they beat a lacklustre Tottenham in the New Year's Day fixture.

Emery won his third league match in four games, bouncing back from a poor outing against Liverpool on Boxing Day, having previously beaten Manchester United and Brighton last year.

The former Arsenal boss guided his team to dominate Spurs in all key areas of defensive stats, limiting scoring opportunities for their opponents while also creating scoring chances of their own.