As some of you will be aware, Spurs beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Penders, the 21-year-old Belgian, made his first Premier League start (coming on for the injured Emiliano Martínez).
In the 77th minute, he punched a corner from Mateus Fernandes into his own net under pressure from Jan Paul van Hecke. Mathys Tel added a second later, and Cole Palmer was sent off. It was Spurs’ first league win at the Bridge since 2018.
“I went straight to him because, honestly, I felt for him. I know how difficult that moment must have been. You make your first Premier League start, you want to show everyone what you can do, and suddenly one mistake becomes the moment everybody remembers.
I told him, ‘Look at me. Keep your head up. You are still the same goalkeeper you were before that corner. One moment does not define you. People sometimes forget how lonely it can feel to be a goalkeeper. An attacker misses three chances, and people talk about the chances he might score next week. A goalkeeper makes one mistake, and suddenly people question his entire career. That isn’t fair.
I told him the next time you make a great save, remember that the people laughing today might be the first ones praising you tomorrow. We won 2–0, and of course I’m happy. But I’m also a goalkeeper, and I understand what that moment can do to your mind. I hope he has people around him reminding him that he’s more than one mistake”
Kinsky went straight to Penders afterwards and offered the support quoted above. The gesture has been widely praised as classy, especially in a heated derby and given that Kinsky himself has experienced high-profile goalkeeping setbacks earlier in his career.Facebook
This highlights the unique mental pressure on goalkeepers, where one error can define the narrative far more than multiple misses by an attacker.
Great to see a Tottenham player do this; the world is a better place with solid human beings in it.
Keeper errors are always highlighted more than outfield errors. Simply because they inevitably lead to a goal. There isn’t a keeper on the planet at any level
Who hasn’t experienced that moment.
Kinsky. I would say has been the poster boy for errors such was his humiliation not so long ago. All professional sportsmen and women are mentally tougher than amateurs imo it’s this that will get him through it.
Penders will come back stronger just as our boy Kinskey has. From complete humiliation to the No 1 jersey is proof it can be done.
Nice gesture though.
Not only did Spurs beat CFC De Zerbi also beat the much vaunted Xabi Alonso ….