Antonin Kinski suffered the ultimate humiliation for a goalkeeper when he was substituted just 17 minutes into Tottenham’s disastrous 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Igor Tudor hooked Antonin Kinski in just 17 minutes (Image: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinski has commented after what he and others have admitted was a “nightmare” game against Atletico Madrid. Kinksy, 22, made his first start under manager Igor Tudor in Thursday’s Champions League Round of 16, but was ruthlessly substituted after 17 minutes by Spurs’ new manager.
The Czech made two errors while Tottenham lost 3-0 in the Spanish capital. Several teammates tried to comfort Kinski, but Tudor didn’t notice him as he trudged off.
On Wednesday, Kinski took to Instagram to thank those who offered support, both publicly and privately, after the Spurs’ 5-2 loss. “Thank you for your message,” he wrote. “From a dream to a nightmare and back to another dream. See you again.”
After winning against Guglielmo Vicario, the 22-year-old slipped and gave away the ball in the sixth minute and was responsible for scoring Atlético’s opening goal. For the third goal in the 15th minute, Kinski kicked the ball into his own leg, emptying the goal of Julian Alvarez.
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In the aftermath, coach Tudor called for Vicario to be ready and was substituted. Tottenham’s manager claimed after the match that he was trying to protect Kinski.
“What happened is very unusual,” Tudor acknowledged. “I’ve been coaching for 15 years and I’ve never had anything like this happen. It was necessary to keep the players and keep the team. It’s an unbelievable situation. I have nothing to comment on.”
The Croatian has since defended Kinski’s starting role and is expected to return to the bench for Spurs’ game against Liverpool on Sunday. “Before the game, given the pressure against Vicario, another competition, it was the right choice to make at this moment, just like we did,” Tudor explained.
“Tony is a very good goalkeeper. For me it was the right decision. Of course, after this it’s easy to say it wasn’t the right decision. So I also explained to Tony afterwards. He’s the right guy and a good goalkeeper.”
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Antonin Kinski posted on Instagram (Image: Instagram/tondakinsky)
Kinski’s teammates tried to console him (Image: Diego Souto/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, such a mistake happened in such an important game. He was disappointed. The team is with him and so am I. I was talking to him. He understands the moment and understands why he is leaving.”
“As I said, he is a very good goalkeeper. We are with him, we are all together. It’s never about one player. It happened, it’s the Champions League again. We paid the price with the start of this game. It was too heavy at this moment when we are fragile and weak.”
“We recognize who we are and what problems we have. We recognize that things happen every game. Sometimes it’s very hard to explain. When things like this happen, unfortunately in this moment that we’re in, even these slippery events, it explains the moment (that we’re in).”
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