Mauricio Pochettino said he was “over the moon” to have Diego Maradona present the day his Tottenham team beat Liverpool 4-1 in 2017 to give him his fondest memory of Wembley.
Spurs played for over a season and a half at the national stadium after White Hart Lane was demolished at the end of the 2016-17 season to make way for the club’s new ground.
On Saturday, the manager leads his current side Chelsea on the first step to a possible return when Preston visit Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup third round.
In all Pochettino managed Tottenham in 33 Premier League matches at Wembley as well as the greater part of three Champions League campaigns.
But he said it was a thumping win against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in October 2017 that gave him his finest day at the stadium.
“One of the best memories was the 4-1 victory against Liverpool,” he said. “Diego Maradona was in the dressing room before the game. I wanted to introduce the team because it was a great opportunity.
“That was a special day, we had Kobe Bryant with us as well. When you feel special people with you, with the energy and the charisma. They helped us to win the game and perform really well.
“I was over the moon. To have Maradona, to play in the way that we played, it was an amazing afternoon.”
The win against the Reds, earned via two goals from Harry Kane and one each from Dele Alli and Son Heung-min, was Spurs’ fourth in a row in the league and saw them consolidate their place in the top four.
They went on to finish third before embarking the following season on a memorable run to the Champions League final in Madrid, where Klopp’s side got revenge for their Wembley loss with a 2-0 victory.
Yet Pochettino retains a nostalgia for the stadium, in part thanks to a further meeting for himself and assistant Jesus Perez with Maradona the night after the win in 2017, where they reminisced about their brief time together playing for Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina.
“Afterwards (the next day) we had the FIFA Best awards (in London),” he said. “After the gala, (former Spurs players and Argentina international) Ossie Ardiles said ‘Diego wants a Tottenham jacket’. We asked the club and I put it in the boot of the car with the driver.
“Diego called me and said ‘where are you – come to my hotel’. I said no it’s late, tomorrow we have training. Jesus said it was his only opportunity to see Diego.
“We went to the hotel and arrived with the jacket. He said to Jesus ‘sit with me – when I was at Newel’s Old Boys, he (Pochettino) was a kid, 17 years old, he was like my slave. I asked for water, he brought me water’.
“I said Diego, it wasn’t like this,” Pochettino joked.
“It was really special. We finished at one, two o’clock talking about football. Always we are going to miss Maradona. He was the best.”
Belgium 2-0 Montenegro: De Bruyne scores on landmark cap
Kevin De Bruyne marked his 100th appearance for Belgium with a goal in Wednesday's 2-0 friendly victory over Montenegro at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
The Manchester City midfielder was handed a start in the hosts' penultimate warm-up game ahead of Euro 2024 and found the net from distance just before half-time.
Matija Sarkic's weak backpass landed at the feet of De Bruyne and he made no mistake guiding it into the empty net from more than 30 yards out.
Milos Brnovic's second yellow card late on dented Montenegro's hopes of snatching a draw, before Leandro Trossard sealed the victory for Belgium from the penalty spot in added time after fellow substitute Jeremy Doku was felled in the box.
Data Debrief: Profligate Belgium extend unbeaten streak
Belgium were expected to ease to victory, even without record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku included in their squad, but it did not quite turn out that way.
Domenico Tedesco's men registered an expected goals (xG) return of 2.81, compared to 0.62 for their opponents, although their dominance did not truly show in the scoreline.
The Red Devils will know they will need to be more ruthless come their Euro 2024 opener against Slovakia in 12 days' time, yet ultimately they are now unbeaten in 14 matches.
Haaland nets 22nd career hat-trick as Norway see off Kosovo
Erling Haaland netted the 22nd hat-trick of his career for club and country as Norway eased to a 3-0 win over Kosovo in Wednesday's international friendly at Ullevaal Stadion.
The Manchester City striker, who was crowned the Premier League's top scorer in 2023-24 for the second season running, took just 15 minutes to get off the mark in Oslo.
Haaland headed home David Moller Wolfe's cross inside the six-yard box, before doubling his tally in the 70th minute with a clipped finish after being played through on goal.
The third and final goal arrived three minutes later as the prolific striker exchanged passes with Aron Donnum and fired home after Kosovo made a mess of cutting out the danger.
Haaland now has 30 goals in just 32 appearances for Norway, who face Denmark in their next friendly on Saturday.
Euro 2024-bound Denmark were themselves in friendly action on Wednesday as they earned a late 2-1 win over Sweden thanks to a late Christian Eriksen strike.
Eriksen netted via a dripping shot in the 86th minute at Parken Stadium after Alexander Isak had earlier cancelled out Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's opener.
AFCON could be moved due to 'scheduling nightmare', CAF general secretary reveals
The 2025 men's Africa Cup of Nations could be put back six months after a "scheduling nightmare", CAF general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba has confirmed.
The tournament, which was won by the Ivory Coast last February, was initially scheduled to take place in Morocco in June 2025.
However, this will clash with the expanded 32-team Club World Cup, held in the United States between June 15 and July 13, with four African teams invited to participate.
"For the men, we need to make sure that the dates that we'll be choosing will be in the interests of the players,” Mosengo-Omba told BBC Sport Africa.
"For this, we need to balance different aspects and also discuss with our partners and then we complete [the dates]. Scheduling is a nightmare for everybody.”
"We can play after the Club World Cup, but is this good for the interests of the players who have played all the season, and then they travel to America [and then] to immediately come to play Afcon?"
The CAF general secretary also said there would soon be an update on when the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations would take place, with the forthcoming Olympic Games providing another potential clash.
"We are supposed to play this year, but we have teams engaged in the Olympics, so we have to find another date," he added.
"We are talking with UEFA, because most of the players are playing in Europe, the European Club Association, and also with FIFA in order to find [a] suitable date."
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