Leading on to CONCACAF

Tottenham has never been a side that stood with the status quo of available talent pool. When teams in the 60's had primarily English teams with the odd Scotsman dotted in, Spurs had an FA Cup and League winning side that encompassed the best of the British Isles. Dave Mackay, John White, and Bill Brown starred from Scotland; Cliff Jones and Terry Medwin provided a dynamic pair of Welsh wingers, and Danny Branchflower (considered by many Spurs' greatest player) and the legendary Pat Jennings are giants of the Northern Irish game.

In the late 70's when the rest of the league caught up to this approach, Spurs moved on to South America, bringing on the Argentine duo of Ossie Ardilles and Ricky Villa. South America had been an untapped talent pool, and the pair helped forge a back-to-back FA Cup winning combination. The 90's saw Tottenham become one of the most continental European sides in the newly established Premiership, with players ranging from Iceland to Spain to Israel to Denmark to Germany... phew, and many more. 

But this millennium has seen an opportunity to take a lead in a new part of the world: North America. Kasey Keller and Lars Hirschfeld's acquisitions began the trend, followed by Paul Stalteri, one of the few great Canadians ever to play in the Premiership. But it has been the additions of Wilson Palacios and Giovani Dos Santos in 2008 that showed an interest acquiring North Americans who play with a different style and speak a different language. Palacios has been a fine addition, helping lead Tottenham to 4th place in 09-10 before running into injury troubles this year. Gio has yet to come off at Spurs, but his young age, continued development at international level, and successful loans give hope that Gio still might be a strong player for Spurs. 

Currently, dos Santos is having a sterling Gold Cup with Mexico. The tournament, the continental championship of CONCACAF, has been brought into bigger notoriety as the US has grown in stature, but most of all, the fantastic debut of Javier "Chicarito" Hernandez has revealed that their is hidden talent in these lands. Spurs have tapped talent from Honduras, Canada, Mexico, and the USA over the years, but it is necessary to continue to scout undervalued talent in these lands and look for players in the next rising nations of CONCACAF. So stay with CFC as the Gold Cup goes on. We will be showing you the players to watch in the Gold Cup... and might just be a great future Spurs players.