Rodrigo Bentancur has admitted he almost teared up after seeing the reaction from the Tottenham supporters and his teammates after the final whistle at Selhurst Park.
Bentancur completed his long-awaited return against Crystal Palace last Friday, coming on as a late substitute to help the Lilywhites see out a 2-1 win.
It was a special moment for the midfielder, who had been out of action for eight months after suffering an ACL injury at the King Power Stadium back in February.
The Uruguayan admitted that he felt ready to be involved, having regained full strength in his knee.
The midfielder told Spurs Play: “I felt like I was ready to come back. I started to train pretty much normally. Luckily the knee is ready. I don’t think about the knee anymore. I don’t have any fear, I feel fine.
“The only thing I need now, like all players after eight months without playing, is to play again and get some minutes. Then, to do my best when the manager needs me.
“I found out the day before the Crystal Palace game [that I would be playing]. That was when the squad list came out and I knew I was going to be part of the team that went to the game.”
Rodrigo Bentancur is finally back for Tottenham
Bentancur remarked that he felt like a footballer again when he trotted onto the pitch in South London and thanked his teammates for helping him through a difficult spell
He continued: “It’s just the feeling of feeling like a footballer again, to put on the shirt, to go to the stadium and be around my team-mates. From day one they’ve been there to help me.
“The truth is that we’re not just friends, we’re more like brothers. They’ve shown that right from the moment I got injured. They’ve always been with me.
“It was a special moment. To have just touched the pitch, even for 10 seconds. It was like reliving the day I became a professional footballer.”
There was a touching moment after the final whistle at Selhurst Park as the Tottenham players pushed Bentancur to the front so that he could take in the accolades from the travelling supporters, who were signing his name.
The 26-year-old said about the reception: “It was an incredible moment. I wasn’t expecting so much love and support from the fans and my team-mates. It was incredible.
“To be able to get up and move and be close to the fans, and hear the song again, it gave me goosebumps, to be honest. I almost cried actually because it was such an emotional moment.
“The truth is that sometimes you don’t realise where you are or the magnitude of what you’ve achieved. These eight months also helped me to put the brakes on, so to speak, to enjoy family time, to enjoy the things that I was missing and I didn’t even realise.
“The truth is that the injury came at a point where I was doing really well, but it gave me a lot of other things – it helped me to mature a lot, both personally and as a player.
“I’d like to thank the fans for their support throughout these long months. I’ve always felt their affection and now thankfully, we can be around each other again.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is going to take several weeks for Bentancur to slowly build up his match fitness but Postecoglou can certainly afford to ease the Uruguayan into proceedings, given that we have only game a week and the fact that Pape Sarr is in excellent form at the moment.
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