Ledley: "Captaincy at the World Cup is special for the Club"
Mon 02 July 2018, 15:25|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ledley King spoke with no little pride after watching both Harry Kane and Eric Dier captain England at the World Cup.
Skipper for the tournament, Harry will wear the armband again when England face Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday.
The striker was rested for England’s final group match against Belgium on Thursday and Gareth Southgate turned to Eric to lead the team out.
No Spurs player had captained England at the World Cup before this summer – now we’ve had two in the space of a week!
We’ve real leaders within the camp at Spurs, so much so that they are captaining England at the World Cup
Legendary former defender Ledley, who first captained the Club aged 25, said: “It’s special for the Club, never happened before. It’s amazing really.
“It shows how well we’re doing. We’ve got real leaders within the camp at Spurs, so much so that they are captaining England at the World Cup and let’s not forget about Hugo captaining France, Jan has captained Belgium as well. That bodes well for us.
“Harry and Eric are young men but both mature for their age. They are both great characters, great temperament.
“When you are a young player, you strive to play for your country and to get onto that world stage, but you don’t really then think about the captaincy. That’s beyond your wildest dreams. Captaining your country at the World Cup, that’s very special.”
Ledley represented the Three Lions at the 2010 World Cup and has been impressed with the Spurs players in Russia – not least Harry Kane and Kieran Trippier.
“Kieran Trippier has been great, we all watched him last season but I’m sure lot of other fans wouldn’t have realised how good he is, especially his delivery in the final third. He’s settled into that role brilliantly.
“Harry, once he scored the first goal against Tunisia everyone knew he was in for a good World Cup. When he get a start like that, the goals roll in for him. It’s a funny one. After Tunisia, in your head, you think ‘he’ll get a hat-trick against Panama’ and he goes and does it. It’s crazy, and great for England.”
Ledley King fact file...
- Initially a schoolboy, Ledley joined the Academy in 1997 and signed pro' forms in 1998
- Made his debut against Liverpool at Anfield in 1999
- Took over captaincy in 2005-06
- Lifted the League Cup in 2008
- Forced to retire through injury in 2012
- A one-club man, made 324 appearances in all competitions
- Club Ambassador since 2012
- Capped 21 times by England
- Featured in Euro 2004 and 2010 World Cup
