Tottenham Hotspur had to ask for the goal frames to be changed ahead of their Europa League qualifying win over North Macedonian club Shkendija on Thursday after discovering they were too small.
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Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said his goalkeepers noticed during warmups that the goals at Tose Proeski Arena in Skopje didn’t have the right height. The goals were changed by UEFA officials and Tottenham won the game 3-1 to advance to the playoff round.
Mourinho later posted pictures on Instagram of himself almost touching the crossbar, while Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who sat out as new arrival Joe Hart started, was easily grabbing the woodwork.
“Before the game was a funny situation because my goalkeepers told me that the goal was small,” Mourinho said. “I went by myself and of course the goal was small. The goalkeepers, they spend hours and hours and hours in the goal, so they know when the goal is not the right dimension.
“I am not a goalkeeper but I know football since I was a kid and I know when I stand there and I spread my arms and I know the distance, so I felt immediately that something was going wrong.”
The game was level 1-1 before Son Heung-min and Harry Kane scored in the final 20 minutes for Tottenham.