DeAndre Yedlin’s career goal of stepping onto a Premier League pitch was worth it, even if it came in a loss.
An ankle injury to Kyle Walker opened the door for the 21-year-old USMNT winger’s inclusion in Mauricio Pochettino’s 18, and Yedlin subbed on for Vlad Chiriches late in Tottenham’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
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He played a feisty dozen or so minutes at right back, matching up with Christian Benteke and handling a bunch of right sideline throw-ins.
Yedlin thanked the White Hart Lane fans for their applause upon his debut, but said he’ll dwell on the loss more than the debut (Somehow we doubt that a bit, but we digress).
From TottenhamHotspur.com:“It’s unbelievable to make my debut here, something I’ve looked forward to for a while now but the circumstances weren’t the best and it was a disappointing loss,” reasoned DeAndre.
“The only thing going through my head now is the loss. The debut was great but the loss overshadows everything. It’s disappointing but we have to keep our heads up. We’ll look to come back and get those points back.”
Oddly enough, Yedlin had been trying to get on the pitch by mimicking Walker. Here’s what he told the London Evening Standard in late March:
“I think Kyle and I are similar players — a lot of people say that. I pay attention to a lot of what he does, not only on the field but off it, too. What time he gets in to training, what time he leaves, what kind of stuff he eats, how long he is in the gym and what his training habits are.”
Yedlin continues a memorable week with a call-up to the USMNT squad for Wednesday’s match against Mexico.Disappointing result but very happy to get my @SpursOfficial debut #COYS pic.twitter.com/Pfbegq0Rd1
— DeAndre Yedlin (@yedlinny) April 11, 2015Follow @NicholasMendola