• Europa League

Adebayor blames tiredness for penalty miss

ESPN staff
April 13, 2013
Emmanuel Adebayor believes it was tough to take a penalty after playing with ten men © Getty Images
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Emmanuel Adebayor has suggested tiredness was the cause of Tottenham's disappointing performance in the penalty shootout at FC Basel - and has defended his poorly struck spot-kick.

Spurs battled to a 2-2 draw in Switzerland, leaving the scores tied at 4-4 on aggregate, in their Europa League quarter-final tie to force a penalty shootout.

However, they exited the tournament after Tom Huddlestone saw his effort saved and Adebayor blazed over the bar.

A number of Spurs players had appeared exhausted at the end of extra-time, with Jan Vertonghen's dismissal in the dying moments of normal time complicating their task, and Adebayor has hit back at critics for his penalty miss in the shoot-out.

"It's tough," he told reporters. "You run around for 120 minutes, you give everything you have in your stomach, you are tired, you play with ten men for 30 minutes and at the end of the day you have to take a penalty.

"The pressure is there when you take the ball. It's not the reason why we missed. We had to score, but it's not easy for us.

"I have taken penalties for Arsenal and Real Madrid. It's a gamble. You miss or you score. I missed against Basel. I am very disappointed, but that's football. You just have to keep focused and keep going."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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